


We'll Build Something From This

by Translucent_Ant



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Adopted Peter Parker, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, FTM, Gen, Irondad, Marvel - Freeform, Mild Language, Mild Transphobia, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter just needs someone to love him, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Trans Peter Parker, adoption fic, author is actually trans, hes scared, slight angst, spiderman homecoming - Freeform, tony stark is a dad, trans Spiderman
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-12 06:43:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 30,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15334131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Translucent_Ant/pseuds/Translucent_Ant
Summary: When Peter Parker gets kicked out, Tony Stark is there to help him back on his feet. It’s new, and comes with a lot of challenges, but Peter is worth it. He’d do anything to protect the kid and his secrets, but what happens when the whole world finds out what Peter spent his whole life trying to hide?// In which Tony and Peter build a family





	1. Not alone

**Author's Note:**

> Hello welcome I hate author notes so lets keep this short. 
> 
> This is purely self indulgent 
> 
> i'm a trans guy but i live in canada where all my hormones and surgeries are covered so I don't really know about the american process
> 
> tw// some transphobia!

Ever since the vulture problem, Tony had more or less laid off Peter. The kid had earned his trust, and honestly impressed him beyond belief. He got mission updates on what the kid was up too on patrol, now directly to his personal phone, and he called him up once in a while to ask about school. He kept a lot of the training protocols off the suit, and disabled the baby monitor. (Much to Peter’s delight). He only kept a couple of safety precautions, like a protocol that would notify him if Peter’s heart rate or breathing dropped drastically. 

He was sure the kid was doing well in school, I mean he was practically a genius, and Peter talked often about his classes and friends. So he didn’t need to worry about anything right? For once, things were okay. 

Tony sighed and took a sip from his coffee. Maybe now he could get some work done. 

 

 

Peter wasn’t okay. Peter had almost never been worse. He hadn’t had anywhere warm to sleep for 6 days now. Not after May found his shots and kicked him out. 

“You’re wasting money!” She had yelled. “Do you understand how selfish this is? Why can’t you just stay as you are. Why do you have to alter and ruin your body like this?!” 

He couldn’t help but feel like maybe she was a little right. Maybe he was selfish and he got what he deserved. But fall was turning into winter fast and bus stops weren’t keeping him warm anymore. Not to mention people at school were taking notice.  
But he couldn’t bother anyone, not after everything Mr. Stark had done for him, and he was sure Happy wouldn’t want to be burdened either. Beside all that, neither of them knew he was trans and Peter wanted to keep it that way. He’d gone through so much trouble with Ned when they were 13, going in and deleting and altering all his older government info. May had said the name change price was too high and not worth it, so Ned helped him out. 

Peter sat crouched by a dumpster, mask in one hand and his phone in the other. He was starting to notice a dull ache in his ribs but he ignored it, ‘not now’ he thought.

_“Hey Mr. Stark! Just finished patrol. Ran into this crazy French guy who thought he was a pigeon, took him to a nearby shelter. Nothing new other than that. Had a slice of pizza and now I’m just going to work on homework. Talk to you tomorrow :)”_

He pressed send with a heavy sigh. He felt bad for lying, but he knew he’d feel worse for bothering Mr. Stark with the truth. He dropped his phone beside him and pulled his knees up to his chest. It was starting to sprinkle a little but he was covered enough by the neighboring building to avoid getting completely drenched. 

His chest panged again and he winced. At this point he wasn’t sure if it was his binder or that hole in his chest from May. He didn’t know, but it hurt. It hurt and he wished he was at home. He wished he was wrapped in a blanket on the couch, watching old 90’s cartoons and sending memes to Ned and MJ. At home with hot food, and a shower. With his testosterone. With his aunt. His _only family._  
He felt something run down his cheek and he hoped it was just a raindrop. He had cried to much lately, he needed to man up. 

Man. Up. 

A soft ping distracted him from his pity party and he looked down at his Starkphone, 

_“Good work kid, keep studying hard and you’ll be just fine. Maybe crazy French guy is coming for Falcons spot. Give your hot aunt a kiss -T.”_

He let out a shaky breath and glanced up at the sky. _‘I’ll be fine on my own’_ he thought to himself _‘I can do it’_. So he curled up, and drifted off to sleep. 

 

When Peter came too, he knew he’d have to miss school again. His chest was throbbing angrily now and his whole body felt woozy. He tried to focus his vision but the world kept shifting and moving around him. He tucked himself further behind the dumpster and shut his eyes again. The heater in his suit was helping a lot, but he still felt a sharp coldness deep in his bones. He tried to take a deep breath but the act caused a pain so sharp and deep, it immediately knocked him out. 

 

 

“Sir,” FRIDAY said, interrupting Tony’s thought process on developing a new upgrade for Peter’s suit. He figured he still owned the kid for the plane saving thing, this was the least he could do. “Mr. Parker’s breathing is dropping rapidly and his temperature is rising.” 

Tony immediately got up from his chair and walked over to his main interface, passing a quick look at the clock. It was 9:56, the kids school had started over an hour ago, why was he in his suit?

“Excuse me?” He said out of shock. “Shouldn’t he be at school? Why is he in his suit?”

“According to my research, Mr. Parker has not been at school for a week now and his current time in the suit is 147 hours. Roughly under one week” FRIDAY replied. 

“I know how many hours are in a week. Call Peter now.” He ordered, pinching the bridge of his nose. He had just heard from the kid last night, why didn’t Peter tell him if something was up? Was it really him texting? Was he kidnaped this whole time and he didn’t know? Why hadn’t May called him? 

He could feel a familiar tightness form in his chest and he took some deep breaths, setting his hands on his knees and hanging his head. He couldn’t have a panic attack right now. He could freak out after Peter was safe. 

“No answer from Mr. Parker, Sir. Would you like me to set a flight pattern to his location?” 

Tony sat up straight and started walking to the balcony,

“Read my mind Fri. Let’s go.”

 

Peter slowly felt himself drift back into consciousness and he was greeted by the awful cold again. His body was shaking from it, that and his ribs. He could hardly breathe now and it was making him dizzy. Was he underwater? Why wasn’t he able to take a deep breath? This was weird. He felt weird.

He heard the faint sound of an engine coming closer. No...not an engine. Repulsors? He knew those. Those were Tony’s. 

And then Peter felt warmth. He felt arms wrap around him and he almost melted. 

“-Pete? Peter answer me. Can you hear me? -FRIDAY run a medical scan.” He heard a familiar voice say. So Tony really was here? That’s not good. Peter didn’t want to bother Mr. Stark but now he had him crouched down by a dumpster. He had better things to do than take care of a dumb, selfish teenager. 

“I-I’m fine..” he sputtered, trying to sit up but immediately falling back to the ground. _Oh my god_ that hurt. It felt like a sledgehammer was taken to his ribs. A binder couldn’t cause that much pain could it? He never had problems before. 

“Yeah I don’t think so, hot shot. You have a fever of a hundred and four and major rib damage. What the hell happened to you?” Mr. Stark insisted, doing something on his phone with one hand and holding Peter against him with the other. 

Words wouldn’t come out of Peter’s mouth. What the hell was he supposed to say? How was he supposed to explain May? Or that his binder was causing his ribs to hurt, or that he hadn’t had anything to eat in longer than he could remember. His mouth tasting sour at all the explanations he came up with. 

“I-I was kicked out..” he managed, guilt swimming inside his stomach. Mr. Stark didn’t need to know his sad life details. Mr. Stark had been through more than Peter could ever imagine 

He felt Mr. Stark stiffen before holding Peter a little closer. Peter felt his eyes start to close again, his chest hurt too much. Everything hurt too much. It hurt just to try and breathe. 

“I got you Pete.” Mr. Stark sounded miles away. “Happy and Bruce are coming, we’ll fix you up.” 

Peter tried to nod but the world felt like it was folding in on him, suffocating him. He felt a slight panic rise in his chest at the thought of Bruce and Tony seeing what was wrong with him. Seeing his binder. Two of the Avengers were going to know. He wanted to say something more, he wanted to stop Mr. Stark and convince him he didn’t need medical attention. But the world was falling faster, the sky was crumbling and Peter found himself unable to remember what he was panicking about. 

_“I got you.”_ Was the last thing he heard. 

 

 

The second time Peter came too, it was instant. One second he was asleep and the next he was laying wide awake in a hospital bed. The first thing he noticed was a needle connected to a clear bag, was stuck in his arm. The second thing he noticed was the large heated blanket laid on top of him. Oh heck that felt _amazing._ He couldn’t help but smile a tiny bit. 

“Warm enough squirt?” A tired voice said, Peter looked to the side to see Mr. Stark walking over to him. _Oh god Mr. Stark_ , what had happened? What did he know? Peter’s breath caught in his throat. 

“I uh, y-yeah.” He croaked out, avoiding his gaze and sitting up a tiny bit. He was pleasantly surprised when his ribs didn’t ache. He took this opportunity to sit up fully in bed and adjust the tube pulling at his arm. Much better. “Thank you Mr. Stark, you really didn’t have too, I was okay really-“

“Six broken ribs. One close to puncturing your lung. Hypothermia, and oh yeah, _starvation.”_ Mr. Start argued. Sounded both mad and worried. “You were not okay, and I think you owe me the truth. Starting with Aunt May and the last seven days.”

Peter felt his hands to sweat and his heart rate speed up. How would he do this? He couldn’t. But.. Mr. Stark had a point. He owed it to him right? Even if it meant losing Tony too. He owed him the truth. Mr. Stark gently sat down on Peter’s bed and Peter took a deep breath. 

“I got in a fight with May.” He started, balling his hands into the sheets and staring down into his lap. He couldn’t look at Mr. Stark through this. “She found out I bought the testosterone I was approved for. Even though we agreed we didn’t have the money. I didn’t think it mattered because it was _my_ own money. But I guess it did. Because she called me selfish, and told me if this…lifestyle was going to take over, I had to leave. She said she was only prepared for a phase. Not a permanent change. I wasn’t even able to go back and get some more clothes and I-“ Peter felt tears start to pour down his cheeks and he dug his nails into his palms. Dammit. Now he was crying in front of Mr. Stark. “I tried to call her but I think she blocked me. I-I didn’t tell anyone because I didn’t want to bother anyone and I didn’t want you to know because I knew you’d probably not let me on any missions and now, now I’ve just ruined everything.” And then he became a complete blubbering mess. All the emotions and exhaustion from the past week were all hitting him at once. He hid his face in his hands and weeped, wanting to disappear. 

He felt a firm hand clasp onto his shoulder. “You know,” Mr. Stark started. “You should be proud of yourself. It’s not easy to hide things from me but you, you really did well. I never second guessed you. Not with all your documents backing you up. Nice work with that.” He heard a faint chuckle which was followed by a brief awkward silence.

“You haven’t ruined anything, Peter. I don’t- I don’t know much about this sort of thing. But I know that you’re a stellar kid. I know you’re a wiz, and that you deserve to be happy. But Jesus you scared the shit out of me.” Tony ran a hand over his face “you need to tell me when something like this happens. You need to tell _someone.”_

Mr. Starks hand gently rubbed Peter’s back. “Of course I’m still going to let you go on missions. What would Queens do without it’s Spiderman?” Peter relaxed a little under his touch and Tony took this as a good sign to keep going, “I don’t see you any differently Pete, doesn’t matter to me. Capice?” 

Peter nodded stiffly and gave a hint of a smile, “y-yeah, capice Mr. Stark.” He said, unclenching his hands and taking a deep breath. Mr. Stark gave him a firm pat on the back and before standing back up and doing a quick stretch. 

“What now?” Peter blurted. The question had been at the tip of his tongue for a while now and he couldn’t keep it in anymore, especially when it seemed like Mr. Stark was getting ready to leave. Not to mention he was feeling his eyelids start to grow heavy. “Like- once I’m done here at the hospital, where do I uh..” he wasn’t sure how to end the sentence without putting any pressure on Mr. Stark. 

Mr. Stark waved his hand in a dismissive fashion. “Don’t worry about that. You just rest, and rest at ease because you’re not in the hospital. You’re in the medbay at the tower kid. I wasn’t going to take you somewhere where your identity was compromised. Those aren’t my beans to spill.” 

Peter took a closer look around the room and realized it was much too quiet and clean to be a hospital. He was definitely grateful for that. Hospital experiences sucked for Peter. “I was just wondering if I should look up a shelter or-“

 _“Rest”_ , Mr. Stark said firmly. “I’ll order some pizza when you wake up.” He gave Peter’s feet a quick pat and walked over to the exit. Peter sighed and laid his head back. He couldn’t fight the sleep much longer. And he didn’t _want_ to fight it, he craved more rest desperately. So he shut his eyes, and happily let the darkness take over. 

 

 

In all honesty, Tony had no idea what came next either. 

“FRIDAY pull up.. pull up anything relate to Peter’s case. You’ll find his file in the private server, Curator is me and Bruce.” Tony said, plopping down in his swivel chair and running a hand over his eyes. He really wasn’t sure where to begin, but he figured research was a good place to start. 

“I have collected a briefing for you sir, sending it to your StarkPad now.” 

“Good, thanks. And get me May’s contact information while you’re at it. I think we should give her a call.” He sighed, unlocking his StarkPad and leaning back in his chair. “See if we can get some sense into her, maybe this is just a misunderstanding.”

“May Parker is currently still at work. According to her schedule, she will return home in 24 minutes.” 

“Call her in 24 minutes than, and let me know if Peter wakes up, would you?” 

“Certainly Sir.” 

Tony began the briefing FRIDAY put together. The first article he was shown was talking about treatment. He read about different surgeries, hormones and therapy. He flipped through it fairly quickly, this was the stuff he knew. Surgeries, hormones, all that he had heard about in the news thousands of times.

The second article went on about gender dysphoria. After seeing the depths that some people were driven too, like a young girl in Ohio who tried to cut off her genitals with a pair of scissors, he started to worry about Peter all over again. Did he have thoughts like that? Was he in a better place now that he was, well, _him?_

By the time he got to the third page he was feeling a little more informed, this one was about methods people use to help dysphoria before they have any surgeries or hormones. It told him more about binding and clothing choices to help hide certain areas of the body. 

He was about to swipe onto the fourth page when a loud, _“Hello?”_ Sounded through his workshop. He recognized the voice of May and picked up his cell from his pocket. He transferred the call quickly and put the phone up to his ear. 

“May, I got something of yours here” he said, locking the screen of the StarkPad. He heard May sigh tiredly and some rustling.

“I can’t have this conversation right now, Stark” 

“Alright, no conversation then. How bout I just bring him back and you and me can touch base when you’re not so.. drained or whatever this is” he responded, irritation edging onto his tone. 

“No, I don’t want her here. I thought she would have made that clear to you” May snapped, he could hear her on the verge of yelling but that was fine because Tony was pretty damn close to that himself. 

“I thought maybe it was a misunderstanding, I mean c’mon May, he’s just a kid. He needs you, you have to be kidding me with this.” 

“Oh she needs me? Really? For what, money for plastic surgery? She’s more obsessed with herself then anything else!” She was definitely yelling now. “I can’t have her here, that’s not the niece I raised.”

Tony could feel himself snapping. “That’s because that’s your NEPHEW. You do NOT just get to decide you don’t want him anymore! That’s not how family works. God, he’s selfish? Really? That’s fucking rich coming from you. Your child is supposed to come first, always.  
You don’t want him? Fine. You don’t _deserve_ him” and with that he hung up. He stood up in a blaze of anger and chucked his phone at the floor. 

What kind of person could do that to a kid? To a fifteen year old child? He took some deep breaths and sat back down in his chair. He unlocked his StarkPad, and went to go and look up the children’s aid society but paused at the fourth article. Transgender statistics. 

_“Transgender peoples who have attempted suicide: 41%_

_Transgender people who attempted suicide with strong relationships with families after coming out: 33%_

_Number of transgender peoples who experienced violence or abuse from a family member: 19%”_

Tony’s heart sunk and he quickly searched up transgender kids in foster care. He came across a New York City pamflet, one paragraph made him bite down hard on his bottom lip 

_“Many LGBTQ youth in the foster care system experience verbal harassment and physical or sexual abuse because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. In one of the only studies of its kind, 100% of LGBTQ youth in New York City group homes reported that they were verbally harnessed while at their group home and 70% reported physical violence due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. This abuse is perpetrated not only by youth peers, but also by facility staff and social workers._

_78% of LGBTQ youth were removed or ran away from their foster placements as a result of their sexual orientation or gender identity._

_56% of youth felt safer on the streets than living in their group or foster home”_

 

Tony slowly set the tablet down and stared up at the ceiling. He didn’t know what he was doing, or what he was going to do, but he knew he was not going to let Peter get into any of those situations. Peter wouldn’t be a statistic. Tony knew first hand what that felt like. 

“FRIDAY?”

“Yes sir?”

“Call my modellers, have them prepare the spare room by mine for Peter. And have someone get some clothes for him too, size medium. He likes graphic t-shirts and anything science-y.” He said, sitting up in his chair again. 

He wasn’t a family, never had been. He hadn’t been enough for Pepper, he hadn’t even been good with parents. And the Avengers.. he had lost so many of his friends over the accords. He wasn’t good at the family thing, he probably wasn’t good for Peter. But he was a hell a lot better than what he just read. 

Peter needed a family, and Tony told himself he was going to do his best to be that for him.


	2. Helping Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He’d give Peter all the chances he never got. Peter wouldn’t end up like Tony, he’d have all the support Tony never had. 
> 
> Tony made a promise to himself that night, watching Peter snore and drool.
> 
> He wouldn’t be Howard Stark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jesus fuck I did not expect anyone to actually read this. Thank you for the support and I hope this chapter doesn't let you down.  
> IF YOU WANNA TALK WITH ME:  
> Email: ansel.c.wall@gmail.com  
> Instagram: Ansel.Wall
> 
> -Ant

When Peter woke up again the Medbay was much darker, he assumed it was probably getting late at night. How long had he slept? He sat up carefully and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He was feeling one hundred percent better now, that sharp coldness was gone from his bones and he could breathe easily. He looked down at himself and saw someone put him in a large “Stark Industries” sweatshirt. It was surprisingly comfortable, but he felt something tight and itchy on his torso. He lifted the shirt up a little to show bandages wrapped around him, from the top of his stomach to just under his upper chest. He frowned and started and undo them. 

“Hey.” A stern voice sounded, Peter snapped his head up to see Mr. Stark. “Leave those, Bruce wants them on for another hour or so. Just to make sure your ribs heal correctly” he said, walking over to Peter’s bed. Peter quickly dropped his shirt back down, grateful he hadn’t lifted it up to far. 

“Sorry it just- itches” he said, before immediately backing up. “I mean not really though, I feel great. You and Bruce did an awesome job Mr. Stark. I’m- sorry” he finished awkwardly, wringing his hands a little. 

“Kid, if you say ‘sorry’ one more time,” Mr. Stark cautioned, sitting himself down on the edge of Peter’s bed, “I’m gonna lose my mind. And we both know I wouldn’t stand a chance without that, my looks are good but I’m no Tom Hardy.” 

Peter scrunched his face in confusion. “Who’s that?”

Tony chuckled and reached over to tossel Peter’s hair. “God you’re so young” he said, sounding a little sad about it. 

“Am not,” Peter retorted. “I’m fifteen.” 

“Am not? I think that proves you definitely are. No one over the age of 17 says ‘am not’” Tony mused, giving Peter a bit of a smile. Peter smiled back effortlessly, being with Mr. Stark always made him feel a lot better about things. Especially once they got talking and bantering. 

“Yeah, yeah.” He gave, laying his back against his pillow. The thought of leaving the tower came back to him, causing a bit of anxiety. He didn’t want to get used to having Mr. Stark when he was just going to leave. He was going to be on his own again and really, that shouldn’t upset him, right? What else was Mr. Stark supposed to do? What else could Peter do? Unless-

“Mr. Stark, would I be able to borrow one of your phones to call aunt May? Maybe if I can just talk to her, she’ll let me come home. I’m sure she’s calmed down by now, right? It’s been like a week and-“

“I’m sorry kid”. Mr. Stark cut off. “I tried that myself. She’s uh, she’s not budging on the you coming back thing. Trust me”. Peter felt his face fall. That was the last thing he was holding on hope too. That was the last positive outcome he could think of. “I don’t think it was a good environment for you anyway, not from the conversation I had with her.”

Peter perked his head up at that, “what do you mean?” He asked, confused.

“For one, she didn’t use your correct pronoun for the entire call.” 

“She’s just… sentimental” Peter halfheartedly defended. Though, the memory of conversations with aunt May did make his stomach do an uncomfortable flip. 

“Uh huh,” Mr. Stark replied, not sounded convinced at all. Peter looked away from his gaze, suddenly feeling very small and very unsure. What was he doing? He shouldn’t be here, bothering Mr. Stark when he had important things to do. If he wasn’t so selfish he wouldn’t be in this situation, right? So technically...

“This is my fault.” He said, surprising himself and covering his mouth. That was not supposed to be said out loud. 

“Excuse me?” Mr. Stark blurted, raising his eyebrows. “I know you did not just say that.” 

Peter didn’t answer, he wanted to disappear from this conversation. He wanted to avoid this, wanted to just be at home. He wanted this to all be over. 

“Peter..” Mr. Stark said gently. “There is no way where this is on you, squirt. No way. This is all out of your control.” Peter felt a firm hand grasp his shoulder, “I don’t want you worrying and stressing over these things you can’t change. Cuz you can’t change ‘em kid, you cannot change your aunt. She doesn’t want to change. But you can change how you let these things affect you, understand? So no more “what if’s”, you’re safe here. Focus on that. Focus on the future. I mean, look at me,” he said, chuckling dryly and rubbing his shoulder. “If I kept thinking about all things in my past, I’d go insane. And you and me already talked about where I’d be without my gorgeous mind.” He finished, giving Peter a smile. 

Peter paused for a moment, clinging to every word Mr. Stark spoke. He hadn’t been given any kind of advice or comfort in longer than he could remember. And Mr. Stark had a point. Mr. Stark’s past with drinking, drugs, and other unspeakable acts, it was all no secret. Neither was his parents death or what happened with Captain America. Mr. Stark put all that past him...so Peter could too. Right?

“Thank you.. Mr. Stark, really. That actually really helps” he finally said, looking up and giving him a smile. Mr. Stark looked a little surprised, and then pleased.

“Thank god” he said “because I had no idea where the hell I was going with that.” He chuckled a bit and Peter couldn’t help but join in. Yeah, this was nice. This was good. Peter wanted this to last forever. 

“Now, I think I promised you pizza.”

 

When the pizza arrived, Peter did his best to eat _slightly_ civilized. He didn’t do a convincing job but c’mon, he was literally starving. 

“Jesus,” Mr. Stark said, setting down the crust of his first slice. “Take a second to breathe, Pete. I didn’t know it was possible to go through that much pizza in 10 minutes.” 

“You should see me after a mission Mr. Stark, I can eat a whole pizzeria.” Peter said between bites. He’d ordered a meat lovers but was already almost done. 

“How’d that happen anyway?” Mr. Stark inquired, picking up another slice of his chicken caesar. “Did it happen when you got the whole… spider thing? I never asked you how it came to be, thought maybe it was personal... Not that I’ve shown respect for personal space before.”

Peter smiled a little and set his slice down, finally full enough to pause for a minute. “It’s really not, I was on a school field trip to an Oscorp lab, a radioactive spider got loose and bit me. I got really sick and then woke up with all...this. And a hunger that never stops.” 

Mr. Stark made a mild face of disgust. 

“Oscorp” he half spat, and Peter couldn’t help but laugh a little. Everyone knew about the Stark and Oscorp ‘rivalry’ but Peter didn’t think Mr. Stark took it personally, apparently he was wrong. Mr. Stark rolled his eyes at Peter’s laugh and took an aggressive bite. Peter watched him for a moment before returning to his own food. They fell into a comfortable silence and Peter started thinking. 

One thing Mr. Stark said was still spinning around in his mind. _“You’re safe here. Focus on that”_. What did he mean by that? Safe in the medbay? Focus on getting better? He already was better, and in a couple minutes he wouldn’t even have the bandages on his chest. That must be what he meant right? Peter bit his lip slightly. He should probably ask about finding shelter now.

“Mr. Stark-“

“Kid-“ 

They both froze for a second and then laughed. “God,” Mr. Stark said. “That was like something from a bad movie.”

“Haha,” Peter mocked, laughing a little. “You go first.” He’d inconvenienced Mr. Stark enough, the least he could do was let him speak first. 

“I wasn’t going to ask permission,” Mr. Stark joked, and Peter playfully rolled his eyes a little. “Anyways Pete, you mentioned earlier about calling a shelter? I was just thinking that-“

“Now would be a good time to call.” Peter finished for him, feeling himself internally shrink. This was it. 

“What? No. Peter I’m not letting you go into the CAS’s hands. I just spent half the night reading up on group and foster home horror stories. Nothing good comes from that, I’m not putting you into that mess. Not when you just got out of one. The stuff I came across...what they would do to trans and gay kids..no way.” Mr. Stark said firmly. “No way.”

If Peter was shrinking before, now he was frozen. Mr. Stark did research on him? Mr. Stark had spent half his night making sure Peter wasn’t going into a bad situation. Peter felt his chest get a little warm and fuzzy and for some reason, he felt like he might cry. It was like Mr. Stark really cared.

“You don’t have too-“

“I want to.” He said without hesitation.”Stay here, Pete. I have a spare room. It's not that far from your school, I have no idea what I’m doing but I’m a hell of a lot better than those people out there. And unlike those people, I want you here.”

_I want you here._

“Can you cook? I can’t so if you can, you’re an incredible addition. Oh and I ordered you some clothes, size medium, right? Ah we’re going to have to talk about the binder thing and-“

“Mr. Stark,”

“And we’ll get whatever you need from May’s, I can send Happy to get it, no problem-“

“Mr. Stark.” Peter tried again, his eyes tearing up a little. 

“How do you feel about dark blue? I had-“

“MR. STARK.” Peter snapped, a lot louder than he expected. Mr. Stark fell quiet and Peter felt his tears spill down his face. Great, two times he’d cried in from of Mr. Stark. All in one day. 

“Thank you..” he croaked, shutting his eyes and letting the tears fall. 

They snapped open again out of surprise when he felt strong arms wrap around and hold him tight. Mr. Stark was… hugging him? 

“That’s a hug.” He confirmed, and Peter could swear he felt his smirk. Obviously hinting back to the time Peter had thought he was getting hug, when actually Mr. Stark was just getting the door for him. Peter blushed a tiny bit from the embarrassing memory, but it didn’t last long. 

He was okay. He had Mr. Stark. He had somewhere to sleep. It would be okay. Just like Mr. Stark said, he would put all his bad past behind him. 

And focus on the future.

 

A half hour later, Bruce arrived back in the medbay and Tony reluctantly excused himself so Peter could be examined. He leaned his back against the medbay door and got to thinking.

Tony had meant everything he said to Peter. He did want the kid here. A big part of him was telling himself that it was because he was Spiderman, or because he just owed the kid. But he knew it was a lot more than that. He just didn’t want to come face to face with those feelings yet. He didn’t want to let Peter down. He didn’t want to be Howard. 

Tony fell back a little when Bruce opened the medbay door, looking both tired and pleased. 

“Well, he’s doing much better. Much better. Just have him stay the rest of the night in medbay and then he’s good to go, wherever it is he’s going” he said, taking his glasses off and cleaning them at the end of his shirt. 

“Well, he’s actually just going to stay here. I wanted to ask you about that.” Tony confessed, hoping his friend wouldn’t disagree with his choice. “From a legal standpoint, what exactly is the next step?”

“Woah, woah, hold on. Are you sure about that Tony? He’s not like, a friend that can just crash. You have to actually care for him, you understand that right? You know he’s just a kid?” Bruce replied, looking concerned. He carefully slid his glasses back onto his face.

“Yes Bruce, I am very aware he’s a kid. You’ll just have to trust me, alright? I know what I’m doing.” Tony said, running a hand through his hair and sighing. “I’m just a little unsure of the next steps.”

Bruce stuck his hands in his pockets and crocked up his eyebrow, “I’m a doctor Tony” he stated. “Not a lawyer. Don’t you have people to call about that? With all of your problems- you must have an incredible legal team.” He teased, walking towards the elevator and pressing the down button. He probably needed sleep, Tony owed him for staying up so late.

“Bruce, wait.” Tony called, taking a couple strides towards him. Bruce perked his head up in response. “-you can’t tell anyone.” He continued. “About Peter’s..health. Or why he’s here. The kid doesn’t want people to know.” 

Bruce smiled a little and stepped into the elevator. “I have bigger things to worry about, Tony. I’m not going to tell anyone. Now get some sleep, would you? Sounds like you’ll be needed it.” 

And with that the elevator doors closed. Tony smiled a little, it was really good having Bruce back at the tower. Tony had grown to consider him a friend, and with his current situation.. friends were hard to come by. His mind flashed back to the fight with Steve and he subconsciously reached to steady his trembling hand. Yeah, friends were hard to come by. 

He let out a shaky sigh and quietly opened the medbay door, peeking his head in. Peter laid curled up in a tight ball facing tony. His mouth was opened and a little drool was dripping out. His hair was an absolute mess, it had started to curl and was protruding out at random angles. Tony leaded against the door frame and watched him a moment. He looked young, so young, and innocent. How could anyone send him to the streets? How could anyone not want Peter?

Peter shifted, turning in his sleep to face the window and Tony smiled a little. The warm feeling in his chest confirmed what he already knew, he’d protect Peter Parker. Peter, one of the smartest kids he knew. One of the kindest people he knew. He saw the future in Peter. He was going to change the world. Not as Spiderman, as Peter. Tony saw it in him and he knew other people did too. 

He’d give Peter all the chances he never got. Peter wouldn’t end up like Tony, he’d have all the support Tony never had. 

Tony made a promise to himself that night, watching Peter snore and drool.

He wouldn’t be Howard Stark. 

 

After making sure Peter would sleep through the rest of the night, Tony headed down to his lab. He opened up the prototype for Peter’s new suit and had FRIDAY compose an email to his legal team. He knew they’d get back to him quickly, Tony was notorious for needing immediate legal help. In the meantime, he put all his attention on Peter’s suit. He knew he wanted to incorporate a binder, but he honestly wasn’t sure how he was going to go about it yet. He’d need to figure out the best material, and work out how tight the things were supposed to be. 

Once he felt like he couldn’t do anymore without consulting Peter, he pulled up FRIDAYS system and started coding more protocols. He knew if Peter was going to be staying with him, he’d be using FRIDAY just as much as Tony did. And besides that, Tony knew Peter’s luck and his track record. He had a habit of getting himself into situations, and Tony hoped FRIDAY would help him keep more of an eye on the kid. 

“Sir,” FRIDAY said, startling Tony for a moment. He’d been really focused on his work. “The modellers are heading home for the night, they have completed the paneling and placement of furniture, but have not gotten to decorating or putting away Mr. Parker’s clothes. What time would you like them to return so they may complete the task?” 

Tony thought for a moment before setting his pen down and standing up. “They don’t have to return, I can handle the rest. Send them on their way, Fri. And make sure you complete those payrolls. They get overtime.” He exited his workshop and made his way across the suite to the spare room. He cracked the door open and smiled a little. It was exactly what he asked for, dark blue walls, wood furniture and a burgundy bedspread. He knew he didn’t have time to wait for paint to dry so he ordered a blue paneling system. 

He wanted Peter to feel at home, and less like he was staying in a fancy hotel. 

Tony entered the room and turned to the boxes stacked by the closet. He opened the first one and found some of his personal favourite books and textbooks. He flipped through them briefly before carefully placing them on a bookshelf by Peter’s new desk. The box also contained a selection of plain notebooks, which Tony carefully stuck in the drawers of the desk. 

He went through each box meticulously, putting a lot of thought into the placement of everything. A microscope, a star wars poster, a tool set, and a Death Star shaped speaker were set up, with Tony examining every little bit to make sure it was perfect. He remembered what Peter’s room in Queens looked like and he tried to create a similar feeling.  
He finished his decorating with a large cork board, a lightsaber based lamp, and full size mirror on the back of his closet door. 

Tony stopped for a moment to admire his work before moving to the bags of clothes sitting on the floor. He unfolded each article one by one, hanging them in the closet with care. He was happy with the selection, they all looked like things Peter would wear. Meaning a lot of them had really bad science puns, or were flannel. 

He smiled proudly to himself when he finished. He was glad it had gotten late and the modellers left, this was worth doing on his own. Now he knew everything was done right. 

He slowly slid down the wall by the closet until he was sat on the floor, he just needed to sit for a moment. He had a lot to process, and he knew a lot more processing was on its way tomorrow. Things were just getting started. 

He shut his eyes and laid his head back against the wall. Even though he knew things were about to get complicated, he was content. Peter was going to be safe with him, and there were no more secrets between them. He had a lot of things to show Peter, a lot of things to ask him and a lot of things to learn. But he was looking forward to it. For the first time in months Tony finally had a reason to do something, a reason to work. He was so grateful to Peter for that. 

He had so much to do, but for now, he just needed to rest his eyes. He wasn’t going to sleep, he was just going to rest. Definitely not sleep. 

Tony Stark slept like a baby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this is going well?? idk i love you, whoever you are. thanks for reading.


	3. A New Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t really have anything to say other than thanks for reading, ily.

It was the sun that woke Peter up, it was pouring through the medbay windows and casting light into his eyes. He groaned a little before sitting up and rubbing the sleep away. He briefly looked around the room, that’s right, he was in the tower. He looked to the side of his bed and saw his phone plugged into the wall. He reached over, pulled it free and turn it on. He had a feeling Ned was going to kill him. And MJ- he had missed decathlon practice for a whole week now. If Ned didn’t kill him, MJ would definitely bite his head off. 

He quickly typed in his passcode, _(Spiderman69)_ and opened up his messages. Immediately notifications starting pouring through. Ned had decided to not only spam his messages, but also his Snapchat, discord, and Instagram DM’s. He scanned through the texts first, starting with the last thing people sent. 3 days ago.

_“Hey Ned, just a little bug. I’m fine, -p”_

_“A bug?? That's sorta funny if you think about it. ;) But really can you even get sick??? -N”_

_“Peter?” -message unread_

_“You haven’t tagged me in anything for a while, are you sure you’re okay?” - message unread_

_“People at school are starting to ask questions, MJ is pisssssssed” -message unread_

_“I called May and she said you’re not living there anymore??? wHAT?? Peter what is going ON” - message unread_

_-3 missed calls from contact: Neddie Betty-_

_“Let me know when you can, I’m really worried. Everyone is.” -message unread_

Peter bit down hard on his lip and opened up hue Snapchat. He opened Ned’s, most of which were things he missed at school. Apparently someone had dared another freshman to eat a pickle covered in wasabi. Others were videos asking if he was doing alright, and where he was. He closed out of Ned’s and saw he had one more snap, from MJ. He opened it just to see her sitting at the decathlon table, giving him the middle finger, for 5 days in a row. That’s fair. 

He closed out of the app and composed a message to Ned. 

_“Hey man, I’m okay now. I’m staying with Mr. Stark. Call tonight and I’ll explain? -p”_

He pressed ‘send’ and sighed, his teachers were going to kill him. And it was going to take forever to catch up. 

“Back from the dead and you’re already on your phone” He heard Mr. Stark say from behind him. He turned and gave the man a sheepish smile. Mr. Stark looked a lot better than the night before. His hair was styled neatly, and he was dressed in some casual joggers and a tank top. He seemed a little lighter behind his eyes. 

“Ned was seriously freaking out-“ he explained, setting his phone down and stretching. “I’ll call him later to explain.”

“Ned? Coulda sworn his name was Fred.” Mr. Stark said. Peter knew he was kidding, he seemed to know the names of most of the people in Peter’s life. As much as he liked to play it off. “Anyways,” he continued. “You must be hungry. C’mon, breakfast is ready upstairs.” He patted Peter’s knee and gestured for Peter to follow him to the elevator. Peter stuffed his phone in the pocket of the big ‘Stark Industries’ sweater and trotted after Mr. Stark.

“That-“ Mr. Stark said, pointing to an elevator. “Is the one the rest of the members use to get to the medbay. This-“ he guided Peter down the hall a little, to a slightly fancier looking elevator. “Is the elevator to the Ironman suite, its powered by FRIDAY. No buttons, just tell her where you’d like to go and she’ll take you.” The elevator opened and they both piled in. “My suite, FRIDAY” he said, turning to give Peter a cocky smirk.

“Yes sir.” A voice replied, coming from literally nowhere. 

“Woah.” Peter said, his mouth hanging open a little. He knew about FRIDAY and Jarvis, who became Vision. But seeing it first hand was a whole new experience. 

“I’ve programmed her to respond to you too, try it.” Mr. Stark said, seeming very pleased with Peter’s shocked reaction. 

“I uh,” Peter stuttered. God, what do you even say to a robot in the ceiling? Maybe he was overreacting, she was probably just like Karen right? “Hi FRIDAY, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Peter, uh Parker. I’m Peter Parker.”

“It’s nice to meet you Mr. Parker, let me know if I can be of any assistance.” She responded, opening the elevator doors. “You have arrived at the Iron Suite.” 

Peter stepped out with Mr. Stark. If he was impressed before, now he was completely flabbergasted. Mr. Stark’s suite was the coolest place he’d ever seen. One wall was completely covered in large glass windows, Peter could see more of the City than he ever had before. And he was Spider-man, he’d been pretty high up. 

There was a giant tv mounted on the wall, and a very comfortable looking sectional. A large kitchen was connected to the living space and Tony guided Peter towards it. 

“Tour later,” he said. “Breakfast and coffee first, or I’m going to die” he didn’t sound like he was kidding but Peter laughed a little at his dramatics anyway. 

Mr. Stark led him past a breakfast bar to a medium sized dining table. It was covered in food. Fruits, pancakes, waffles, eggs and different French rolls were some of what decorated the table. Peter didn’t think he had ever seen this much food all at once before. 

“I uh, what?” He stuttered. He felt like he needed more sleep, or like he was asleep. “Mr. Stark you did not have to make all that” he said, feeling a little bad. Mr. stark gave him a perplexed look before unfolding a napkin and sitting down.

“Oh I didn’t” he said. “Can’t cook, remember? I ordered it. I wasn’t sure what you liked so, figured this would be a good way to find that out. Besides, after watching you eat last night, I have no worries about this grub going to waste.” He piled some pancakes and waffles onto his plate and looked at Peter expectedly. “Well,” he continued, “Sit. Eat. It’ll get cold.”

Peter snapped out of his daze and pulled out the chair across from Mr. Stark. He sat down and eagerly started to shovel food onto his plate. He ate a lot on a daily basis, but his body needed more food after healing. The pizza the night before had helped, but he needed more or he’d keep dozing off. He started with some sunny side eggs and bacon, and then moved onto pancakes. God he loved pancakes. He felt Mr. Starks gaze as he carefully stacked each pancake on top of the other. In between he spread butter and sugar. When he had 6 stacked he topped it off with a strawberry. 

Mr. Stark slide a syrup bottle to him but Peter shook his head. “No thanks Mr. Stark. I hate syrup. This is the best way to have pancakes” he said confidently, slicing through his pile with his knife. 

“What? What kind of kid doesn’t like syrup?” Mr. Stark exclaimed. Looking at Peter like he was insane. Or- he was looking at the top of Peter’s head. Most of him was covered by his giant pancake stack. 

“This kid. I mean, this person. I’m not a kid” he retorted, shoving half a pancake into his mouth.”syrup is too sweet. The pancakes are perfect without it, honestly I don’t understand why people like it” He was glad Mr. Stark couldn’t see his mouth, he didn’t think the elder would be impressed with his talking and eating. 

“Right. Well you’re wrong. Syrup is delicious, and pancakes without syrup is just weird. You freaky, spider-child” Mr. Stark said, sipping his coffee and watching Peter with a fond smile. Peter peaked over his pancakes to give him a full-pancake mouth smile back. To which Mr. Stark rolled his eyes. 

They fell into a comfortable silence, Peter was too focused on eating to really talk or think. His thought process was strictly limited to, _‘should I have butter or jam on my toast.’_ And _‘orange juice or apple juice, or milk.’_ And finally, to follow up with the last one. _‘He needs some milK”_

When Peter finally had his fill and had a moment to digest, Tony said he’d show him his room so he could clean up. Peter was mostly surprised Mr. Stark had a room ready for him, but a shower was sounding amazing. 

As they walked down the hall Peter watched Mr. Stark. Didn’t he have like… Important business to do? I mean, he was Tony Stark. Did he really have time to deal with a annoying teen? But the smile on Mr. Starks face didn’t seem like he was being annoyed or inconvenienced. He could just be being polite though.

Before Peters anxiety could spin too far downward, Mr. Stark stopped at a door and turned to face him. “Now,” he said. “If there’s anything you don’t like, we can easily change it. It’s no problem.” He looked like he took a bit of a deep breath before opening the door for Peter and stepping in. Peter felt like his jaw hit the floor. 

_Holy crap._

He was in such a state of shock, he had trouble even seeing the incredible details. The room was a dark blue, and it had a beautiful large window that had his bed against it. He had a large wooden desk, tons of shelves, and _oh my god_ was that a balcony?

“Oh my god” he said, rushing over to his new desk to look over all his new things. He made his way around the whole room, stuttering and smiling the whole time. This was absolutely insane. He didn’t think he’d been this shocked since Mr. Stark gave him his suit for the first time. 

“I can’t believe I have a balcony!” He said, smiling more than he could remember ever doing before. “And oh my god is that poster signed??” He ran over to a star wars poster hanging next to his bed. 

“Well, most of the rooms have a balcony, just keep it closed for now. Don’t want snow coming in, it’ll be any day when that storm hits.” Mr Stark replied, walking over to Peter. “Are you kidding me? I swear I had this hanging straight last night.” He sighed, reaching past Peter to straighten the poster. 

He had it hanging straight? Did..did Mr. Stark do this himself? Peter was beyond shocked at this point. This was one of the nicest things anyone had done for Peter, and Mr. Stark had done it himself. 

“You uh, you did this?” Peter finally asked, looking up at Mr. Stark with absolute admiration. 

“Well, I didn’t do the walls or furniture. I just picked out and placed the decoration stuff, and bed sheets. I’d say it’s no big deal but really,” he gave Peter a teasing smirk. “You should be absolutely honoured, it’s all modeled for you kid.” 

Peter knew Mr. Stark was kidding but he really was honoured. Mr. Stark probably had a lot of better and more important things to do last night, but he spent it preparing this for Peter. Maybe, he did really want Peter to be here. Peter had been thinking this was all because he was spider-man, but maybe it was more than that. Maybe Mr. Stark liked Peter Parker.

“Thank you, Mr. Stark.” He gushed, looking the room over again and seeing even more awesome stuff. A Death Star speaker? Wait until Ned sees. “Really, I mean, it’s perfect. It’s absolutely perfect.” 

Mr. Stark reached out and gave Peter’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. “No problem squirt. Your clothes are in the closet, bathroom is beside the closet. You go ahead and have a shower, I’ll put away your disgusting- no syrup pancakes.” He said, giving him a bit of a smile before walking out and closing the door. 

 

He had his own bathroom. _Oh my god he had his own bathroom._

He went over to his new closet and opened the wide doors, carefully looking through his options. Mr. Stark did awesome job nailing his style. He could see himself wearing most, of not all, the clothes. He settled for some jeans, a dark grey Star Wars shirt, and a dark green hoodie. He looked around the drawers and found boxers, but no binders. He frowned a little and then felt guilty, Mr. Stark had been incredible. Peter couldn’t expect him to get _everything_ right. 

He made his way to the bathroom and shut the door behind him. He was pretty impressed with the room, it was so damn clean. Like a hotel almost, but a lot better since Peter knew this was his room. He slowly stripped of the large comfortable clothes he’d been dressed in earlier, discarding them into a laundry basket by the door. He stepped into the shower and cranked the water on, sighing happily as it washed over him. God that felt good. He stuck his head right under the spilling water and let the heat completely swallow him. This was it, this was heaven. 

He took longer than he expected, a lot of time was spent just enjoying the warmth, and then came the actual washing up, and then the ‘is this really happening? Am I dreaming?’ thoughts. 

When Peter finally stepped out of the shower he flinched. Okay, one downside to the bathroom. Full length mirror in front of the shower. He duly noted it for next time and averted his gaze, he didn’t want his dumb body to ruin his mood. Not right now when everything was just about perfect. 

He sighed and open up a small closet by the sink, looking for a towel. He was pleasantly surprised to see 7 binders hanging above a bunch of soft towels. Okay, Mr. Stark really did think of everything. He pulled out a towel and dried himself down before choosing a simple, black tri-top binder. 

Pete took a deep breath. Here goes, hopefully he was dry enough to avoid the material from stick to his back. He always felt like a caterpillar when he put his binder on, all squished, trying to break free from a cocoon. That and a birthing calf, it was a mix. 

After a good 6 minutes of thinking he’d die in the binder and no one would find him, he got it straighten out and could actually move. He pulled on the rest of the clothes he’d picked out. 

_‘Damn’_ he thought, _‘Mr. Stark really got my size right.’_ The jeans fit just how he liked them, tailored but not enough to show any curves. They were comfortable too, like really comfortable. He didn’t want to think about how much they might cost. 

He ran a comb through his hair, and starting brushing his teeth when his phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket with one hand and continued brushing with the other. 

_“Oh thank GOD. Dude I thought something serious happen with your… y’know. Night job. But can u back step please, did u say YOUR STAYING WITH MR. STARK?? -N”_

Peter rolled his eyes and smiled, spitting into the sink. Of course Ned would fanboy over Mr. Stark. He set a reminder in his phone to call Ned before he went to sleep. He finished cleaning up and exited the bathroom, feeling ready for just about anything. 

 

Tony would be lying if he said Peters reaction to his new room didn’t make him feel absolutely on top of the world. The way Peter has looked up at him, like Tony had just given him a puppy or something. He wanted to do everything he could to keep Peter that happy. Peter was too nice, too innocent and sincere. He wanted to protect that. 

So while Peter took his shower, Tony went down to the lab connected to the suite and tried to get a better handle on the legal situation. His lawyers had emailed him back, but most of the email was comprised of, ‘are you sure this is in your best interest?’ And ‘is this for publicity?’. He didn’t have time to discuss and argue details with people, he just wanted to understand what he was supposed to do. Peter was going to need to go back to school on Monday and he needed some kind of note for his teachers, excusing him for the past week. But right now he didn’t have that power, his word meant nothing. He found the firms contact and pressed call, leaning against his desk. Sometimes, things were better handled over phone. 

“Mr. Stark,” a young woman’s voice answered. “We weren’t expecting a call from you, would you like me to patch you through to Jeremy?” 

“Yes, yes that would be perfect.” He replied, picking up a screw driver from his desk and throwing it in the air a couple times, he was trying to see how many times he could make it spin in the air and still catch it. The line went quiet for a moment and Tony sighed. He wouldn’t be surprised If Jeremy didn’t pick up. Tony Stark wasn’t exactly a preferred case. 

“Tony!” A voice blared into his ear, full of fake excitement. “How are ‘ya? Did you get my email?” 

“That I did, can’t tell you I read it all. I got bored after you mentioned the company’s interest for the third time. But I did get it.” He said, his usual sarcasm was dripping like an open wound. He didn’t have much patience for lawyers.

“I uh, yes well we’re just concerned. We want you to make sure you’re making the best choice for you. This isn’t exactly easy to reverse..” he trailed off, chuckling. Tony didn’t feel like laughing.

“Okay, that’s not what I asked you to do though. I asked you to make this work, so do that.” He reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Well you’ll need to talk to his previous guardian too-“

“I’ll email you her contact, we’re not exactly on the best terms. So you handle that, and you send someone when you need me to sign something. I want this done, Jeremy. It’s not like I’m adopting the kid, this shouldn’t be so complicated. So let me know when we’re good.” He finished, hanging up. Hopefully that message got across. 

“Sir, Mr. Parker has finished his shower.” FRIDAY sounded. Tony smiled a little to himself and got up from his seat. 

“On my way Fri, can you submit that donation we talked about?” He said, walking out of the workshop. 

“Funds transferred, Sir.” 

“Perfect.”


	4. The Stars Above

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony didn’t say anything, not for a long time. He just watched the stars until he felt the kids head go limp onto his shoulder. He stiffened for a moment, tempted to just guide Peter’s body back to the bed. But then he reached out and put a firm arm around the kid, watching as stars danced on Peter’s closed eyelids. Again he was plagued with the question, 
> 
> ‘who the hell wouldn’t want Peter Parker?’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for all the support! I strongly urge you to listen to "Look after you" By Aron Wright. It adds a lot of feels throughout this whole story. btw every time y'all comment something that makes me cry, I finish a chapter.
> 
> You can also follow me on my twitter if you like: @translucentant
> 
> -Ant

_"When you think you're all alone,_  
_I'll wrap you up and I'll take you home._  
_No matter what you're going through,_  
_I will look after you."_

 

 

After Tony gave Peter the grand tour, (the workshop alone took almost an hour, since Pete was so damn excited) they settled on heating up waffles for dinner. 

“I don’t want to waste food.” Peter had said, very against Tony ordering Chinese. That kid was too darn good for this world. 

They sat on the couch and Tony put on a series called “Friends” that Peter insisted was good. They ate quickly, and as the first episode faded out, Peter had come up with a bunch of questions.

“Mr. Stark, will I go back to school on Monday?” He said, looking at Tony with a little bit of anxiety. Tony didn’t blame him, he had a lot going on. More than any other kid his age. “Because my teachers are going to kill me, and they won’t excuse the absence without a note from May, I just don’t want to be kick out. All my friends are at school, and it’s the school Uncle Ben helped me study for. I just.. don’t want to lose it, Mr. Stark.”

Tony set his plate down and sighed. “If you’re ready for school Monday, I don’t think there’ll be a problem. My lawyers are working hard, at least they better be, to get everything done for Monday. That’s over 24 more hours to get it all sorted, that’s plenty of time. Probably” he said, running a hand through his hair and crossing his legs. 

Peter sat forward a little and clasped his hands together. “Getting what done, Mr. Stark?” He asked. Ah, maybe he didn’t run the guardian thing over with Peter. Just the whole, staying with him thing. 

“Well if you’re going to be staying here, it’s just a lot more convenient if I’m your guardian.” He replied, trying to make it sound like no big deal. He didn’t want the kid to freak out or anything. “Y’know, legally.”

“Isn’t that uh, isn’t that pretty serious, Mr. Stark?” Peter inquired, blinking in bewilderment. 

“Yeah, I guess it is” he said back, giving Pete a bit of smile. “Makes sense though, I’m pretty serious about you staying here. Peter I-“

“I have Miss Potts on the line sir, she wishes to speak to you immediately” FRIDAY interrupted. Tony sighed and shut his eyes. How was the universe so good at screwing him over? It honestly was impressive how much it seemed to like toying with Tony. 

“Right, of course that would happen right now.” Tony murmured. He looked at Peter apolitically. “Do you mind kid? If she’s calling it’s important.” He stood up and looked down at Peter.

“No no!” Peter answered, looking a little _too_ okay with it. “Definitely not Mr. Stark, I’ll go and call Ned. It's the perfect time, really.” He gave Tony a wide smile and Tony couldn’t help reaching over to give the kids head a pat before making his way to his workshop. He’d make it up to Peter later. 

“Transfer call,” Tony said, picking up his cell phone and preparing himself for whatever was on the other line. It’s not that he and Pepper had ended things badly, but there was still a lot of awkwardness between them. 

“Pep,” he greeted. “Is everything okay?” 

“You tell me Tony. Are you dying again? Being held hostage? Because I can’t think of any other reason you’d donate thirty thousand dollars to the LGBT centre.” She replied, sounding genuinely concerned. Tony knew Pepper didn’t mean any harm by the statement, but it did bother him a bit that she didn’t think he would ever do something out of kindness. 

“Everything is fine Pepper. Is it so crazy to think I just wanted to do something nice?” He said, flopping down on the small couch in his workshop. 

“Yes, it is, especially when it’s come out of nowhere. You donating to organizations after a disaster is different, where did this come from?” 

Tony sighed and felt a wall he had up come crumbling down. He gazed up at the ceiling and put the phone on speaker. “I was doing some reading last night, Pep. There’s so much awful shit going on that I didn’t even know about. There’s so much I don’t know about. So much I’ve just ignored. The group needed it, so did I...I just can’t get some of the stuff out of my head.”

“Tony…” she said gently. “Did something happen?”

Tony was so tempted to spill everything to Pepper. To tell her about the cruelty Peter faced, and Tony’s worries about failing Pete. He wanted to tell her all of it.. but it wasn’t his story to tell. 

“Just life.” He replied shortly, quickly feeling that wall from before coming back up. 

“Right.. well the press have questions. So does the organization, should we arrange a meeting or press conference?” She said. Tony could tell from her voice that she knew he wasn’t going to open up anymore. 

“No, no. I don’t have anything to say.”

“Tony, you can’t just donate that much money without saying-“

“I have to go, work. End call FRIDAY” Tony replied, feeling a little guilty. He and Pepper left their conversations to strictly business and he had to admit, it did sting. He tossed his phone to the side and continued gazing at the ceiling. Pepper had wanted him to be more responsible, if she found out about Peter would she see it as responsibility or carelessness? He wanted to become better for Pepper, he wanted her to trust him. He was working on it, working hard but he couldn’t tell if Pepper was noticing. He didn’t know how to talk to her now, he didn’t know what he could and couldn’t say. He didn’t know anything. 

“What’s Peter up too?” He asked FRIDAY, finally sitting up and rubbing a hand across his face. He would continue his pity-party another time.

“Mr. Parker fell asleep after his Call with Mr. Leeds, would you like me to wake him?” 

Asleep, again? Tony was a little worried but then again, the kid had been through a lot the last week. He probably had a lot of sleep to catch up on. He passed a quick glanced at the clock, 9 pm. 

“No Fri, let him sleep.” He said, moving to his work table and taking a seat on a stool. He had a couple of ideas for new web shooter combinations and he was eager to try them out, Peter always got excited at suit updates. He had to admit, working on Peter’s suit had sort of become a form of therapy. Similar to his addiction to update his own suit, but this felt better. A lot better. He liked knowing he was helping Peter. 

It also put his mind at ease, after anything bad happened to Tony, he tried to update Peter’s suit to make sure Peter never got himself into situations like Tony’s. Parachute? Check. Heater? Check. Backup energy lasting 24 hours? Check. Life jacket? Check. 

He’d like to think he had thought of everything, but he still worked hard. Just in case he slipped up. He didn’t want to ever slip up, Peters life was way too important.

 

3 hours later, he was snapped out of his work by FRIDAY. 

“Sir,” she said. “Mr. Parker is sleepwalking.” 

Tony set down his tools and stood up, a little surprised. He didn’t know Peter sleptwalked, the kid had never mentioned it. He looked over at the clock, 12:45 am. He started to walk from his workshop, figuring he’d gently wake Peter up and send him back to bed. No big deal. He could do that.

“Sir, Mr. Parker is on the balcony.” 

_Big deal, big deal, that’s a big deal._

Tony changed his walk to a sprint and dashed down the hall, his heart racing. The balcony, why didn’t he lock the balcony? He should of thought of that. He cursed his feet to move faster, bursting into Peter’s room and running towards the balcony. His heart dropped to his feet when he didn’t see Peter. 

Oh my god where was Peter. Oh shit, oh no, what had he _done?_ He opened the doors and stopped in his tracks. 

There was Peter, curled up in a ball on the balcony floor, fast asleep. He was in nothing but a tank top and boxers, and he was obviously freezing. 

Tony slipped his hoodie off and wrapped it around Peter, watching him with a face full of concern. “FRIDAY?” He said. “Any idea what’s going on?” His voice wobbled a bit, it was mid November and getting cold _fast,_ especially when you were as high up as they were. 

“My educated guess is, Mr. Parker is used to sleeping in the cold. His body was naturally pulled to it, most likely for a sense of familiarity. Chances are, it’s easier for his body to fall asleep out here.” She said. Tony frowned and reached out, shaking Peter’s shoulder. 

“Pete?” He said gently, giving it another shake. “C’mon kid, time to wake up. Let’s get you inside.” He watched as Peter started to move a little, and eventually opened his eyes. He looked around, clearing confused. 

“Mr. Stark..?” He croaked, blinking a couple times. “Why’re we outside..? It’s like, really cold.” 

Tony chuckled and reached his hand out, he wrapped it under Peter’s arm and pulled the kid to his feet, letting Peter lean on him. Peter let Tony pull him inside and guide him back to the bed, shutting and locking the balcony behind them. 

“You were sleepwalking kid,” Tony said, lowering himself on the bed beside Peter and leaning his back against the wall. “Scared the hell out of me.”

Peter bundled himself up in the blankets and sat himself beside Tony. “I was?” He said sleepily. “I don’t think I’ve done that before. I’m sorry, Mr. Stark. It- it won’t happen again” 

Tony couldn’t help but smile a little. “Doesn’t matter if it does,” he reached over and gave Peter’s shoulder a squeeze. “You can’t help it. But let's avoid the balcony, ‘kay? I’ll make sure it stays locked.”

“Thanks,” Peter whispered. “For coming for me.” 

“I’ll always come for you, Peter.” Tony confirmed, watching Peter from the corner of his eye. He was smiling, that was good. 

“Do you think you can get back to sleep?” He asked the small bundle of blankets.

“I don’t know.. it’s weird, Mr. Stark. At the apartment I had these glow in the dark stars, I slept under them every night. And now, to think I’ll never see them again. Never fall asleep under them again..” Peter’s voice was softer than usual, Tony guessed it was exhaustion. “It’s sad. Makes it hard to sleep.”

Tony didn’t say anything for a moment, he knew what Peter meant. It was the smallest things that hurt the most. The things that were once so routine, that’s what you missed. That’s what hurt. Tony knew what that was like. He knew how alone that could make you feel. 

He pulled out his StarkPhone from his pocket and pressed a couple buttons before setting it beside them on the bed. 

_‘Please work”_ he thought to himself.

A couple seconds later, stars were projected around the room, surrounding them. They moved around, occasions glittering in Peter’s eyes. He watched as the kids mouth went from a shocked, ‘O’ to a tired- but fond smile. He looked peaceful, happy. 

“Will this do for now?” Tony whispered, watching Peter. 

“Yeah,” Peter breathed. “Thank you, Mr. Stark.” 

Tony didn’t say anything, not for a long time. He just watched the stars until he felt the kids head go limp onto his shoulder. He stiffened for a moment, tempted to just guide Peter’s body back to the bed. But then he reached out and put a firm arm around the kid, watching as stars danced on Peter’s closed eyelids. Again he was plagued with the question, 

_‘who the hell wouldn’t want Peter Parker?’_

“Anytime, Pete.” He murmured, rubbing Peter’s shoulder. He felt exhausted from the stress of the event. He remembered how his heart sank, how a million thoughts ran through his head. He remembered the statistics. 41% attempted suicide. He thought about how damn quickly Peter could just be...gone. He shut his eyes and held Peter a little tighter. It didn’t matter, he was okay. He was fine. They’d be okay. 

 

 

Peter was woken up by the soft sound of rain against the windows. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, someone had draped an extra blanket on him and he had a feeling he knew who. 

Slowly, he started to remember the previous night. He was cold, and scared. He remembered that, he remembered having a dream about nothing but still having an intense feeling of fear. And then he remembered being warm again, being warm and safe. He remembered the stars Mr. Stark had projected around the room. And he wasn’t sure, but he thought he remembered a strong arm holding him while he slept. 

He picked up his phone from the side of his bed and scrolled through his social feeds, liking all the things Ned had tagged him in. Ned had of course, lost his mind the other night. Mainly because he never thought May would go as far as to kick him out, but also because, _“Tony-freaking-Stark is letting you stay with him!!”_ He had pleaded with Peter to let him come over and Peter said he’d ask Mr. Stark once things had settled out more. 

Peter was still worried that he might screw something up and Mr. Stark would change his mind, especially after last night. He knew Mr. Stark said it was no problem but that might have changed this morning. Maybe he woke up exhausted and done with Peter already. He sighed and looked at the time in the corner of his screen, 11 am, he had seriously slept in. 

A knock sounded on his door and Peter zipped up the sweater he was in, _(which was extremely comfortable)._ Maybe this was it, maybe this was Mr. Stark coming to kick him out. 

“Um, come in!” He called, setting his phone down as Mr. Stark came in. He was dressed similarly to the other day, casually. He had on nicely fitting, grey joggers and a long sleeved black shirt. Peter was still not used to seeing his idol dressed so… normally. 

“Mornin’ squirt,” the older man said, setting a glass of orange juice beside Peter’s bed. He held a bag of chocolate chips in his other hand and a plate of toast, occasionally throwing some of the chocolate into his mouth. _‘This is a weird way to kick me out’_ Peter thought to himself. Nonetheless, he reached out and took a sip of the drink and started to work on the toast, folding it up in half and eating the crust first.

“I hope the rest of the night was a little better for you,” Mr. Stark continued, setting himself on the edge of Peters bed. 

“It was,” Peter replied, taking another large sip of the juice before setting it down again. “I’m really sorry, Mr. Stark. It’s never happened before, I don’t know what got into me. I just,” he took a deep breath. “Hope you’ll still let me stay here. I’ll try not to cause any more problems, I swear”

“I’m not kicking you out,” Mr. Stark said, throwing another chocolate chip into his mouth. “Unless you eat toast like that in front of me again, then you’re gone. That was disgusting, who actually likes _crust?”_

Peter smiled a little at the joke and felt extremely relieved, he reached up and wiped some crumbs from his face with his sleeve. Mr. Stark still wanted him, for some strange reason. 

“I actually picked you up something-“ He said, holding out a sheet of glow in the dark stickers. These weren’t just stars, it was an advanced set of the whole galaxy, planets included. Peter pushed his toast to the side and moved closer to get a better look. “I figured we could get a ladder, and I’ll get a star chart on my phone so we can place them accurately. Y’know, as actuate as we can make a 10$ sheet of stickers look” 

Peter gave Mr. Stark a cocky look before snatching the stickers and jumping up, sticking to the ceiling. 

_“Jesus Christ”_ Mr. Stark gasped, holding his chest. “I forgot about that. You just gave me a heart attack, for the second time in 24 hours I might add.” He threw a chocolate chip at Peter and he caught it effortlessly in his mouth, giving Mr. Stark a smile. “Freaky spider-kid” The older-man murmured, giving Peter a smile right back. 

“Pull up the chart Mr. Stark!” Peter said, opening the sticker pack. He couldn’t wait to get started on it.

“Tony,” Mr. Stark replied, making Peter stop and look at him in confusion. “Call me Tony, Mr. Stark is too formal. It’s driving me nuts” 

Mr. Stark wanted Peter to call him _Tony?_ Peter was honored, and a little confused still. He never in his life thought he would be here, in the Stark tower with his idol, setting up a glow in the dark galaxy and calling him by his _first name._

“Okay Mr- Tony” he said, embarrassed he already messed up. “Okay, Tony.” He repeated, giving him an awkward smile before returning to his stickers. 

The afternoon passed quickly, and honestly Peter couldn’t think of a better way to spend a Sunday. It took him and Tony a couple hours to get the galaxy perfect, a couple hours and a bag of chocolate chips. Peter had found he quite enjoyed trying catch the small bites of heaven in his mouth, especially when Tony would try to get Peter off guard. 

When they finished they sat on the floor, Peter’s head was rushing a little being upside down for so long, and Tony looked a little sick from chocolate chips. 

“Hey Pete?” Tony said, throwing the empty bag into the garbage can from where he sat. 

“Yeah?”

“It was approved this morning, May didn’t give us any trouble.” He said. Peter could hear a smile in his voice. He sat to face Tony, his smile widening. 

“Really? So like- we’re good? I’m good to stay here?” He couldn’t believe it really, being approved to stay with Mr. Stark, er, Tony was one of the best things that could happen to him. 

“We’re good, I’ll write a note for you tomorrow. If you want to go back to school, that is.” He said. 

“I- yes! Yes, I want to go back. Thank you- like times a million. Thank you, Tony.” Peter replied, leaning his back against the wall. He was really going to stay here, he wasn’t being kicked out. 

“But we’re going to have to talk about some rules-“


	5. Meant To Be Broken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Do I get an explanation?” May yelled, standing in Peter's room with him, he had forgotten to close his door after coming in from patrol and she saw him in his suit. 
> 
> “An explanation as to why you think this is okay? Spider-man? Really, Maddy? You’re risking your life to prove something?” She was yelling louder now and Peter felt frozen. 
> 
> “Stark got you into this didn’t he? God Maddy!” She paced around for a moment, holding her hair. 
> 
> “You are not a man! You are not a boy! Take that thing off or so help me-“

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! sorry for the late update. due to health issues i was unable to keep my job, so money is tight and that gave me anxiety. i let myself have a pity day so I didn't write. good news!! I don't go to school, so i can write a lot! what else is a 17 year old gonna do all day. NOTE: May is very OC, forgive me. also this has some angst.
> 
> -Ant

“But we’re going to have to talk about some rules-“ Tony said, and all of a sudden Peter was 10 years old again, sitting on his bed while Aunt May lectured him.

 

_“Maddy, c’mon. You cannot go behind my back like that. We had the photoshoot planned. The dress was beautiful! You really wasted it.” Aunt May said, pacing back and forth in Peter’s room. He had swapped out his Christmas dress for a suit he found at a second hand store, and aunt May wasn’t happy. Ben didn’t mind, he had smiled and ruffled Peter’s hair like he always did. Ben didn’t care about little things like what Peter wore or how he liked his hair, Ben cared if Peter was having a good time at school, and if he was eating well._

_“-I know Mary and Richard were fine with this… phase, style, whatever this is. But it’s getting out of hand. Maddy,” She said firmly, taking the suit Peter had carefully folded and set on his desk. “It’s time to grow up. You’re reaching an age where your body will start to develop,” She tucked the suit under her arm and Peter’s heart sank. He spent his car wash money on it. “I’ll take you shopping tomorrow. A little girls day out”_

_Peter felt something in him break, he hung his head and he cried. “I-I don't want that! Just listen to me, please! I-I can’t grow up, I won’t! I won’t ever be a girl and you can’t make me! I’ll stay here with Uncle Ben for.. for forever!” He yelled, looking up at May with a mix of anger and pleading. He just wanted everything to stop. He wanted to stop time, he didn’t want to grow lumps on his chest like the girls a year above him. He just wanted to stay like this, forever. More importantly, he wanted his parents._

_Aunt May’s eyes shun first with shock, and then rage. She marched over to him and snatched the hat he was wearing off his head, causing his hair to fall in curls down his back. He hated that feeling. He hated his hair._

_“Little miss,” She said. “We’re going to have to talk about some rules.”_

 

“Do those all sound reasonable to you?” Mr. Starks voice snapped him back into reality. That’s right, he was fine. He was okay. He was Peter, not Maddy. He would never have to be Maddy again. 

“Pete?” Oh no. He didn’t hear a single thing Tony had said. He would think it was rude if Peter asked him to repeat himself, right? _Tony Stark_ did not repeat himself. 

“Yes.” He lied, giving Tony a half hearted smile. “Those are just fine.” 

He internally signed in relief when Tony bought in, giving Peter a firm pat on the back. 

“Sir,” FRIDAY interrupted. “Colonel Rhodes is waiting in the lobby.” 

Tony looked taken aback for a moment, standing up and walking to the door. “It’s probably important,” he told Peter. “I’ll see what’s up, do you mind..?” 

Right, people didn’t know Peter was staying with Tony. “Staying here? No, it’s fine, I haven’t even gotten a chance to really look at all this cool stuff so..” he gave Tony an awkward thumbs up. 

“I’m sure it won’t be long, just try to stay quiet. FRIDAY, tell Rhodes I’ll be right down.” And with that Tony left. 

Peter let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He was a little worried about the rules thing, but then again, Peter didn’t really do anything bad. Surely he wouldn’t get in trouble for anything. He flopped down on his bed and gazed up at the glow in the dark stars. The sun hadn’t set just yet so he wasn’t sure how they turned out- but he’d know in like half an hour. He had lied a little when he told Tony he hadn’t gotten a chance to look at everything, Peter had memorized every detail in his new room. He just didn’t want Tony to feel guilty. 

Peter rolled over onto his stomach and grabbed his phone, shooting a text to Ned. 

_“Hey Man, I’m good to come back to school tomorrow. -P”._

He only had to wait a couple seconds for Ned’s reply,

_“Thank god. School sucks without u. Got something important to talk about 2 :/ -N”_

Peter frowned and sat up. Ned never liked to talk about anything ‘Important’. Anything that dealt with serious issues or feelings, he was gone. Ned was the kind of person that would send a meme if you broke up with him. 

_“Is everything ok?”_ Peter’s fingers flew across the keyboard. _“Do you want me to call? -p”_

_“Nah, it can wait till tomorrow. Just meet me by our lockers before bio -N”_

Peter sighed and sent an ‘ok’ to Ned. Now he was worried, what if something serious was wrong? What if Ned was sick, or maybe he didn’t want to be Peter's friend anymore. Peter stared at his hands as a thousand thoughts swam through his brain. He didn’t really understand why he was panicking, this was dumb. But his heart was racing and he couldn’t stop it. He wanted to go and see Tony. 

He stood up and walked to the door but froze when his hand touched the doorknob. He couldn’t leave, Rhodes, the war machine was down there. Tony needed him to stay here. 

 

_“Just… Stay here, Maddy.” Aunt May told him sternly. Uncle Ben had gone on a business trip, things always got bad when he was gone. May was having some of her friends over for Dinner, but after seeing what Peter had done to his hair, she had freaked out._

_“Read a book or something, I don’t care. But don’t you dare come out.” She spat, making Peter flinch a little. “And no tv for a month, I’ve had enough of this.” She glared at Peter and he hung his head, begging his tears not to fall. He heard the doorbell ring and aunt May slammed his door and locked it, letting him cry in peace._

_He remembered sitting by the vent in his room so he could hear what was being said,_

_“Where’s Maddy tonight?”_

_“She’s having a sleepover with a friend, so we have the place to ourselves.” Aunt May said happily. Peter sat his back against the wall and pulled his knees up to his chest. No one knew he was there. He was alone, the house was full but he was so, so alone.  
He looked up at the ceiling and thought to himself, ‘if I was gone, would anyone even miss me?’_

 

Peter knew this wasn’t _anything_ like that. Mr. Stark would be back, he didn’t even want to leave in the first place. Peter knew that, but he still felt the panic in him rise. Something was wrong with Ned, May didn’t want him, Ben was dead, Tony was going to get tired of him. He was starting to find it difficult to breathe and he moved over to stand by the balcony, looking out the glass doors.

“Mr. Parker,” FRIDAY said. “I’m detecting a mild panic attack, would you like me to notify Mr. Stark?” 

Mild panic attack? That, that made sense. When Ben first passed, Peter would get panic attacks at school all the time. Eventually they just stopped, he figured it was a part of grief. This would go away, he couldn’t bother Tony.

“No, no, I’m okay.” He said, trying to calm his breathing. He looked around his room for something, something to help. 

His eyes landed on his suit

He didn’t even think about it, he got up and changed into a better binder, and slipped the suit on. He unlocked the balcony and pulled his mask down. 

“Good evening, Peter. Where are we going tonight?” Karen said. Peter looked around for the best spot to shoot a web. 

“Just the usual patrol Karen, let’s head to Queens.” He said, swinging down from the balcony. 

“I am detecting distress, should I-“

“Mute.” He said, feeling a little angry. He wasn’t distressed, he was fine. Why did Tony program his AI’s to be so pushy? He swung down the block, trying to let the air and adrenaline take away his worries. He just wanted that tight feeling in his chest to stop. Why was he so nervous? He didn’t have a reason to be, and it made him even more frustrated at himself. 

Peter looked below him, hoping the heights would snap him back into reality. What he saw shocked him so much, his web missed his target building and he fell from the sky. He hit the road with a dull thump, making him wince a little. He was sure that had hurt, but his mind wouldn’t focus on that right now. It was screaming at him.

_Ben, Ben, Ben._ This was the road, a little over one year ago now. This was where it happened, where he was shot. _And it was Peter’s fault._

“Hey! Get out of the fucking road, clown!” Someone yelled from their car, blinding Peter with their headlights. Peter awkwardly stood up and stumbled to the side, shooting a web at the neighboring building and swinging to the roof. His legs felt all numb as he sat himself on the ledge, staring at a certain spot on the road. Uncle Ben had deserved better, he deserved everything. And Peter had let him down. 

 

“Tony” Rhodey said, “I’m not stupid,” 

Tony sighed, Rhodes was laying on his work table, telling Tony War Machine stories while Tony fixed the prosthetic on his leg. Or his ‘smart splint’ as Rhodey called it. Tony didn’t mean to be but he was a little quieter than usual, it had been 2 and half hours already and he felt bad for Pete. He still had to talk to him about school the next day. Something had happened this afternoon but he wasn’t sure what, all he knew was Peter was being uncharacteristically dazed. Usually Peter held onto every word Tony said, but earlier it felt like Peter wasn’t even listening. 

“Something’s gotta be up, is it Pep? Some kinda fight again?” Rhodey pressed, propping his head onto his hand. 

“Me and Pepper? Fighting? That never happens.” Tony replied sarcastically, finishing his work on Rhodey and tossing his screwdriver to the side. He flopped his body into his swivel chair. 

“So it’s the kid you have upstairs?” Rhodey said nonchalantly, sitting himself up on the work table and giving Tony a knowing look. Tony’s mouth dropped over for a minute, _son of a bitch_ how did he know? How did Rhodey always know?”

“You could have told me earlier if you had X-ray vision, that would have been useful at the airport.” Was all Tony replied with, shaking his head in disbelief. 

“Yeah, coulda seen all the brains Cap doesn’t have.” 

Tony couldn’t help but smile a bit, Rhodey was one of the only people who could mention Cap without making Tony’s heart race in panic.

“Bruce told me” Rhodey continued. Tony sat up straight, remembering his promise to Peter. He said no one else would know. 

“Did he say anything else?” Tony inquired anxiously. It wasn’t like Bruce to break a promise.

Rhodey looked at him suspiciously, carefully standing up with the help of a crutch. “No, just that he interned for you, and he’s 15. Is there something else?” He wobbled a little and looked like he might fall.

Tony was at his side quickly, steadying him with a firm grip on his shoulders. He did work with Rhodes every Wednesday to try and gain more strength in his leg, but it wasn’t going very far. 

“Thanks,” Rhodey breathed, catching his balance. As soon as it was safe, Tony let go. Rhodey didn’t want to be babied, he didn’t want someone to hover. Tony knew that, and respected it. “But you’re not off the hook.” 

Tony chuckled and walked by his friends side toward the door, Rhodey was known for having strong opinions on his life choices, so he couldn’t wait to hear what he had to say on this one. 

“Man, you know I love you, but this is going pretty far to impress Pepper. I think a puppy would have sufficed.” He said.

“It’s not about Pepper,” Tony defended. He slowed his pace a little to match Rhodes. “For once. It’s only about the kid. He’s.. he’s a good kid, Rhodey. Insanely smart, and painfully kind. I saw him get a little teary when he killed a house fly once.” He chuckled a little and held the door open for his friend. “I just want to help him. Is that so crazy to believe?”

“If you just want to help him,” Rhodey eased, he stepped through the door and Tony followed, walking towards the elevator. “Are you sure _you’re_ what’s best for him? I mean, you’re not exactly a father figure. I mean this in the best way.” 

Tony sighed opened the elevator. “Maybe not, but I’m what he has, and I’ll do my best to make that work.”

Rhodey made his way into the elevator and studied Tony for a moment, probably waiting for him to break into a joke or take it back. 

After a couple seconds he nodded. “Good luck Tones, you’ll need it.” He said, giving Tony a cocky smile. “And next time I’m here, I’m meeting him.” 

Before Tony could respond, FRIDAY closed the elevator doors and Tony shook his head with a chuckle. At least he had Rhodey on his side, sort of. He walked back to his workshop to shut off the lights, pulling out his phone and making a video call on his way. It only rang once before a face with glasses and curly hair answered, 

“Brucey bear.” He greeted, shutting the lights off and walking up the small flight of stairs to the main floor. “Thought we were good at keeping secrets”

“Wha- oh. Tony you needed someone other than me to talk to about it, and Rhodes is your best friend. He should know. Beside, someday the whole world will know, right?”

“Thank you for taking it upon yourself to tell him for me, have you consider marital counseling? You’d be great it.” He joked, climbing the last step. 

“You’re welcome, I have work to do.” Bruce replied, rolling his eyes and ending the call. He did admit, it was sort of funny he was calling Bruce when the man was literally 3 floors down. 

He walked up to Peter’s door and gave it a knock. “Pete? You awake? Sorry, Rhodey needed me to look at his leg.” He said, waiting for the door to open. He waited a couple seconds before slowly opening it himself. “Well, are you decent?” he called, peaking in. The room was dark other than the stars on the ceiling. He flipped the light switch on. 

No Peter. 

He walked into the bathroom, 

No Peter. 

The closet,

No Peter. He also didn’t know why he thought Peter would just be sitting in the closet. 

“Friday.” He said, standing in the center of the room and starting to panic a little. “Talk to me, where did Peter go?”

“Mr. Parker left two hours ago in his suit.” She replied. Tony felt a little shocked, he had literally just told Peter not to go out as Spiderman without telling him, and not at all on school nights unless it was an emergency. That was the third rule. 

“Call Peter.” 

 

Peter sat on the roof for longer than he intended. He was reliving everything. Finding Ben, the hospital, May crying. The days after that were filled with either silence or sobs and nothing in between. He remembered wondering when the universe would take May from him too. Wondering if he was just cursed. 

On a plus side, the grief of his memories eased his panic. Now he just felt weirdly empty, like he wasn’t really present. He wasn’t sure how long it had been, but he had a feeling it was getting late. Remembering he had school the next day, he reluctantly swung back to the tower. 

He thought about how to enter his room as quietly as possible, he didn’t want to wake Mr. Stark, or bother him. He landed gracefully on the balcony and opened up the doors. What he didn’t expect to see was Tony standing with his arms crossed, watching Peter with a face full of concern and anger. Peters heart sank to his feet, what did he do?

“Oh so you did decide to come home tonight?” Tony said sarcastically, making his way over to Peter. “Do I get an explanation-“

 

_“Do I get an explanation?” May yelled, standing in Peter's room with him, he had forgotten to close his door after coming in from patrol and she saw him in his suit._

_“An explanation as to why you think this is okay? Spider-man? Really, Maddy? You’re risking your life to prove something?” She was yelling louder now and Peter felt frozen._

_“Stark got you into this didn’t he? God Maddy!” She paced around for a moment, holding her hair._

_“You are not a man! You are not a boy! Take that thing off or so help me-“_

 

“Peter.” Tony said firmly. Peter snapped back into the present and looked back up at the man. Was this it? He was going to take the suit again? Peter didn’t even know what he did, he didn’t know why Tony looked so disappointed. 

Tony was disappointed. He disappointed him again, he probably was regretting his decision to let Peter stay. He would have to leave and Ned probably didn’t want to be his friend, May hated him, and he basically killed Ben. It was his fault, he should have stopped the robber and he didn’t. And now..

Peter let out a sob and he held his chest, why couldn’t he breath, why was his heart racing so fast? He felt like he was going to pass out. 

“Sir, Mr. Parker is having a severe panic attack.” He faintly heard FRIDAY say. 

“I gathered that, Fri.” Tony replied, sounding a little panicked himself. Peter felt arms pull him into a hug and he fell apart even more, grasping Tony’s arms and sobbing. 

“Pete..you need to breath. Match your breathing to mine okay? 7 seconds in, hold for another 7, and exhale for 7” Mr. Stark coaxed. Peter listened, he didn’t want to disappoint Tony again. 

 

Peter wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but eventually he was somewhat okay. He felt present again, and he figured that Mr. Stark probably wouldn’t have hugged him if he was going to kick him out or something. Since it didn’t seem like Tony was letting go anytime soon, Peter pulled away first, taking a couple steps back and wiping some stray tears from his eyes. 

“I-I’m sorry.” He croaked, sitting on his bed. Tony stood in front of him and Peter could feel him studying him, waiting for Peter to explain himself. “I didn’t actually hear what you said earlier.” He admitted, fiddling with his hands. “I don’t know why but today, I kept remembering some.. not great things. I missed the rules you set, but I felt like it would be rude if I asked you to repeat yourself. I have a feeling I broke one though.” He swallowed. 

Mr. Stark took a deep breath and sat beside Peter on the bed. “No Spiderman on school nights, and always tell me before you go out. And a new one, no muting your phone while out.” He said. Peter felt his mouth drop a little and he looked up at the older man. 

“But, Tony, I used to go out every night, really it’s fine-“

“We’ll talk about that after you get back to school and get caught up, you missed a week kid. That’s a lot of work, even for a little genius like you.” He said firmly. Peter sighed but didn’t argue, he did have a point. And he guessed that if Mr. Stark was really set on these rules, he was really planning on Peter staying for good. 

“Why’d you go out?” Tony asked. Peter could tell it was something he’d been wondering for a while. Peter felt awkward, Mr. Stark had just seen him ball his eyes out and now he had to mention his anxiety? Great. 

“I was.. freaking out a bit,” Peter said carefully. “So I figured the air would help calm me. That’s all, really Mr. Stark, er, Tony.”

“Freaking out about what?” Tony pressed, watching Peter with raised eyebrows. Peter internally groaned and looked away from Tony’s gaze.

“Everything.” He mumbled. “About May, and… my uncle Ben. And school and you and just, everything. Everything was making my heart race.”

“Me?” Tony said, sounding surprised. 

“That you’ll change your mind about me.” Peter confessed, finally meeting Mr. Starks eyes again. Tony softened his expression and set a hand on Peter’s shoulder.

“Not happening.” He stated. “Beside, that’s too much paperwork.” He added, giving Peter a bit of a teasing smile. Peter couldn’t help but give him a hint of one back. “Do you have a therapist, Pete?” He continued. 

“Yeah, well, when I can afford it I do. She’s the one said I’m good to go on testosterone.” He answered, wondering where Mr. Stark was going with this. 

“What’s her name? Maybe we should give her a call.” He said. Peter wrote down the name he remembered and Tony stuck the piece of paper in his pocket. They sat in comfortable silence for a little while, only occasionally interrupted by Peters, post-breakdown hiccups. 

“Lights, Fri.” Mr. Stark ordered quietly. He laid down on his back and Peter followed, staring up at the ceiling. “They work, look at that. I think we did a damn good job kid. Well I did, I don’t know how much effort you contributed.” He teased, nudging Peter with his shoulder. Peter couldn’t help but laugh a little. The stars were really incredible. They shone brighter than the ones at the apartment, and these had a better memory behind them.

“You can tell me, Pete.” Tony said quietly. “If you ever want to. Whatever the bad things were, you can tell me.”

Peter thought about that for a moment, laying his arms under his head. He did trust Mr. Stark, and he did want to tell someone. He also felt like he owed it to him, he had done so much for Peter. 

“Aunt May is one of them” he whispered, subconsciously counting stars while he talked to distract himself. “She… would get mean when it came to my gender. She’d make me wear dresses, and lock me in my room when company came. She would tell me everyday I wasn’t a boy.”

He felt Tony stiffen a little beside him, but he continued anyway. “It’s not really bad though, she thought she was helping me. Parenting me. She didn’t come off as mean on purpose. She was just…” he paused for a moment, feeling his eyes well up a little. “Ashamed.” He finished. 

Tony took a moment to reply and Peter wondered if maybe he said too much. 

“That’s boarding abuse, Pete.” He finally said. Peter knew that, but he tried not to acknowledge it. Aunt May just wasn’t like that. “You deserved better kid, you are nothing to be ashamed of. I’m proud of you.”

Peter felt like someone just gave him a million dollars. No one had ever said that to him before and until now, he didn’t know just how badly he wanted to hear it. Especially from Tony. He had been trying so hard to impress Tony, it had been months of mission updates and telling stories to Happy. And here they were. Tony was proud of him. Not for being Spider-Man, for being Peter. 

“Thank you, Tony” he smiled. He liked this, the way Tony continued to make things better. He could get used to that. To having someone want him, someone be proud of him. 

He looked up at the stars fondly, feeling secure with Tony by his side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @ that person who commented saying they couldnt wait to see what the rules were, rip you got another chapter to wait.  
> twitter: Translucentant  
> insta: Ansel.wall


	6. Authors Notes

Hello! New chapter is going up right after this, but I need a moment of your time. 

YOU CAN BE PETER’S PEN PAL. (and maybe get featured in the story) for Peters English class, he has to sign up for a penPal service. You can actually email him and get to know him, he will progress as the story does. The more you get to know him, the more he’ll tell you about his life and his insecurities. He also gives some pretty sweet advice. For your first email, make sure to include.

Age  
Name  
Country  
Three of your biggest interests  
And briefly introduce yourself! 

Keep in mind, emails that break the fourth wall will not be answered. His email is:

Peter.b.park02@gmail.com

YOU CAN FOLLOW HIM AND NED ON TWITTER. this is a cool way to get another little glimpse into Peters life. You can turn on notifications, neither accounts spam. 

Peter: https://mobile.twitter.com/PeterParkreee  
Ned: https://mobile.twitter.com/LeadsNed

 

I know I am not the first person to have a Peter pen paling service, but I thought it would be fun. If I really like your letter, it’ll be featured in the story! 

STORY DETAILS:

Peter has NOT yet started his testosterone, his aunt found it before his first shot. Where I come from, testosterone is only around 100$ a month, (if you are over 21, the government covers most medication costs for everyone under 21, mine are free.) Peter could definitely afford one months dose if he saved up. I also do not need a guardian to sign anything if my doctor deems it necessary. I have some trouble remembering things are not the same in New York.

Transphobia: a lot of Peters experiences with transphobia are based on mine own. There will be a spa Chapter coming up which is inspired by a problem I had at a spa this past weekend. 

I hope you continue to enjoy this story, and maybe Peter will hear from some of you soon! 

All the best,  
-Ant.


	7. Boy in the bubble

Peter was sat in the back of Happy’s car, his stomach in knots. After asking him about a million times if he’d be okay to go, Tony had sent Peter on his merry way with a new backpack and text books. Peter’s anxiety had gotten a lot better since last night, he didn’t feel like he was going to throw up anymore, and he ate breakfast. But he still couldn’t help plotting out the worst scenarios for the day. Ned not wanting to be his friend, everyone finding out May kicked him out, he knew the teachers knew there was a change in guardianship. Peter was hoping they didn’t like to gossip. 

Happy slowly pulled up around half a block from his school, just like Peter and Tony discussed. Mr. Stark had said it wouldn’t be good for either of them if the press found out just yet. 

“There you go kid, I’ll see you at 3.” Happy said, looking back at Peter with something that looked close to a smile. Peter could tell he was trying, he was one of the few that knew he was staying at the tower. 

“Thanks Hap,” Peter replied, trying not to sound as nervous as he felt. He hopped out of the car and watched as Happy sped off, probably back to the tower. A part of Peter wished he was going with him, but he knew once he settled in he’d be fine as always. Whenever crime wasn’t bad, Peter actually enjoyed school. He loved learning, and getting to spend a lot of his day with his best friend. 

He approached the school and immediately hung his head to try and go incognito. He loved school, not always the people in it. Mainly Flash Thompson and his small posse. Flash was one of the couple kids who knew Peter before high school, before he was actually _Peter._ Flash wasn’t so much of an asshole that he told everyone, he would just make little jabs at Peter that could pass as any normal insult. Like his most used, _Penis Parker._ Peter knew he had trouble at home, he saw the bruises Flash came to school with. So, he tried not to let it bother him. Flash had only gotten violent a couple rare occasions, and Peter knew he could be a lot worse. 

As he approached the school steps, he saw Flash talking to a small gathering of kids. At closer inspection, Peter could see he was showing off a new, bright white, _Supreme_ sweater. Peter rolled his eyes and snuck past, he never really got the big deal with brands. Then again, he didn’t want to know how much the pants he was wearing were. Mr. Stark probably had some kind of fancy outlet he shopped at. 

He made his way to his locker and spotted Ned waiting for him, when he saw Peter he started to wave rather dramatically. Peter smiled, he had really missed his best friend. 

“Hey man.” He greeted as he arrived at his locker, doing a quick handshake with him before unlocking his locker and peeling his jacket off.

“It is _so_ good to see you.” Ned smiled, leaning against his locker. Though, Peter noted there was something a little sad in Ned’s smile. “You have to tell me everything about the Tower and Mr. Stark. Seriously, _everything_.” He gushed. 

Peter grabbed the books he needed and shut his locker, leaning his back against it. “I will, after you tell me the important news.” He said. He was a little relieved, it didn’t seem like Ned wanted to not be his friend. That was good. 

Ned visibly deflated a little and moved a little closer to Peter, lowering his voice. 

“It’s my Gran..” he began slowly, looking around to make sure no one was listening. “She’s sick, really sick. This will be her last Christmas with us.” 

Peter was a little surprised at how vulnerable Ned sounded. It was definitely a side of him Peter had never seen. “I’m sorry..” he offered, worried he would say the wrong thing if he spoke to much.

“It’s alright, there’s nothing anyone can do. But today’s actually my last day here. Me and my family are going up to Florida to be with her.” Okay, _that_ almost made Peter drop his books. 

“You- you’re leaving?” He stuttered, fixing his books. 

“I know, I’m sorry. Just until next semester. That’s only a little over a month.” Ned said in a hopeful tone. 

“But Ned-“ Peter stopped mid sentence and mentally slapped himself. This wasn’t about him and how he would miss his best friend, this was about Ned losing his grandma. Ned didn’t need to feel worse because of Peter.

“Will you be okay?” He asked. 

Ned sighed and shut his locker, leading them down the hall to bio. “Yeah man, I’ll be okay. We can call at night and stuff, right?” 

“Yeah, yeah of course. And it’s only a month.” Peter gave him a firm smile. Ned gave him the ghost of one back and they walked into class and took their seats. They were some of the first to arrive, but they usually were. 

Peter set his books down and took his seat beside Ned. He was having trouble trying to imagine what school would be like without his best friend, Ned was basically the only person Peter talked to. Other than MJ at decathlon. He was also worried about Ned, Ned had never lost anyone before. And Peter knew how close he was with his grandma, he had gotten the honour to meet the woman a couple times. She was always pleasant and gave him containers of cookies to take home. 

“Alright, everyone sit down.” Peter was snapped back into reality by his teachers voice. He said and hopped off his train of thought, here we go.

 

Biology went fine as always, and so did chemistry after that. Peter’s mornings were always his science classes, his afternoons were English and social studies. His teachers were pretty chill, he got a few stern lectures and a lot of work to bring home, but none of them got in his face about the guardianship thing. He was thankful for that. 

“-and that’s why this will be the best thing all year. That and The Dragon Prince.” Ned rambled, Peter was trying to listen but once Ned got talking about his favourite cartoons, he had trouble following along. He picked up his food from the canteen- today was chili and cornbread, and they started to make their way to their usual table in the back. “I don’t really understand why some people were so mad about her design, personally I think it’s- Peter move!” 

Peter snapped his head up to respond but was too late, he walked dead into someone who was running down the caf, causing them both to fall to the ground and be covered in lukewarm chili. He immediately felt awful, both for the person he ran into and for Mr. Stark. He had spent money to get these clothes for Peter and Peter already found a way to ruin them. 

_“Penis”_ a voice growled. Peter looked up to see a viciously angry Flash. His white sweater was now covered in a reddish-brown sludge, and Peter swore you could see steam coming out of his ears. “Do you know how much this _fucking_ outfit cost me?” He spat. 

Okay, Peter did feel bad but it wasn’t exactly 100% his fault. Flash was the one running backwards, which you weren’t allowed to do in the cafeteria. Peter just happened to be the kid he ran into. It could have been Ned or anyone else on their way to their table.

“No.” Peter said carefully, wincing and sitting up. 

“More than your fucking life insurance, I can tell you that.” He said, Peter could tell from Flashes body language that this might get ugly. “More than you’ve probably had your whole life,” Flash grabbed Peter by his shirt and yanked him upwards, he got closer to Peter’s face, “hmm...probably enough to get you a little micro dick.” He murmured to him. Peter clenched his fists tightly and shoved Flash back, breaking free from him. 

“I wouldn’t know.” He coughed, wiping some chili out of his eye. “I don’t use brands to cover up my insecurities around my, ‘micro dick’. You’re the leading expert in that.” He slowly stood up, it actually felt sort of good to say something back to Flash. Usually he just sat there and took it. “Kinda funny how Stacy is going to major in microbiology...” he teased, hoping the mention of Flash’s girlfriend wasn’t to far.

Peter didn’t stay standing long, in a heartbeat Flash had Peter back on the ground and pinned down. 

“What was that, girly?” Flash retorted, holding Peters hands above his head. Peter knew he could break free, he knew he could fight back and easily win. But he didn’t, he didn’t because it wasn’t right. He couldn’t before, why should he now? Besides, he didn’t want to hurt anyone. 

So, in Peters final attempt to stand up for himself, he spat in Flash’s face. A good amount of spit he had started saving a couple minutes ago just in case. He could do that, that didn’t hurt anyone. It didn’t cross any of his lines. 

Before he could really see Flash’s reaction, a fist came down on his face. Hard. And then it came down again, and again, and again and Peter felt his head starting to swim a little. Every part of him wanted to fight back, his senses were screaming at him. But this wasn’t the streets of New York, he wasn’t Spider-man. This was school and he was Peter Parker. A teacher would step in, he just had to hold on. 

_Just hold on._

 

“Five hours.” Tony said, standing in front of Peter. “You were literally out of my sight for five hours and you’re already in trouble.” He reached out and grasped Peter’s chin, tilting it upwards to get a good look at his face, causing Peter’s hood to fall back. He heard Tony mumbled some curses as he looked over his black eye and bloody nose.

Peter couldn’t meet his eyes. He felt guilty. Guilty he ruined his clothes, guilty the principal called Tony in. He knew Mr. Stark had better things to do. He knew he needed to get back to work. More than anything, he knew he didn’t want to be seen at Peter’s school. They were supposed to be keeping things on the downlow. He knew he couldn’t say anything to Tony without crying, and he wasn’t going to do that at school. So he kept his mouth shut and avoided Tony’s worried gaze. 

“Kid..” Tony said gently, setting his hand on Peters shoulder. “I know you didn’t-“

“Mr. Stark, you and Peter can come in now.” The principle interrupted. Peter looked up and watched as Flash and his mother made their way out of the office. Peter had to admit, the look on Flash’s face when he saw Tony was absolutely golden. 

Tony guided Peter into the office and sat down in a chair next to him, watching him carefully the whole time. Peter tried his best to look not bothered, but he could hardly open his left eye, and the strong smell of dried blood was upsetting his senses. 

“Thank you for coming, Mr. Stark. I know you’re a very busy man. Usually we wouldn’t call a guardian in, but this was a rather severe incident.” She started, opening a notebook on her desk. Peter pulled his hood back up and leaned his elbow on the chair, propping his head up. He hoped this was would be quick, he really didn’t want to keep Tony. 

“I agree, this is a severe incident. I’m hoping that kids punishment was also severe?” Tony said. Peter smiled a little to himself, he was using his press conference voice. It definitely came of a little intimidating.

“Mr. Thompson has been suspended for four days.” 

Peter sighed a little in relief, no Flash for four days. He could definitely work with that. 

“I don’t actually know how this works, but I’m guessing that’s a good punishment. Personally I think he should be kicked out, eliminate the problem.” Tony said, picking up a small statue from the principal's desk and tossing it in his hands. 

“Flash is a brilliant boy, he just needs encouragement.” The principal continued, gently taking the statue from Tony. Peter hid a little laugh. “Before I let you two go, I wanted to see how Peter was settling in with his new arrangements”

Peter was suddenly very aware of both Mr. Stark and the principal watching him, waiting for him to give some kind of status report. But the look on Tony’s face told him it was a little more than that, he was actually curious. He wanted to know how Peter was settling in as well. 

“I uh,” Peter started, sitting up a little. “It’s good. It’s really good, there’s a lot of food and uh, Mr. Stark is great. He’s, he’s awesome. I didn’t really have a lot of support before.. now it’s almost like havin’ a parent or something. It’s a little weird, in a good way. I’m not used to having someone...be there.” He swallowed. He really was grateful for Tony. He actually felt safe for once. 

“That’s wonderful to hear, Peter.” The principal said, scribbling something down. Peter stole a glance over at Tony, he was sitting up straighter and had quite the big smile on his face. He looked… proud. “Alright well, I’ll let you two go. Peter, I’ll have your teachers email you the assignments you missed last week and the ones from today. We’ll see you tomorrow.” She said, giving the pair a smile and standing up, opening the door for them.

Tony nodded his head in thanks and the two were off. They headed out of the school through the front entrance and towards a shiny orange car, walking quickly to avoid being seen. Peter was grateful class was in, there weren’t very many people hanging around outside. Still, Peter held his hood up the whole way. 

When they got to the car, he was a little surprised not to see Happy. Instead, Mr. Stark walked over to the drivers side and climbed in. Peter stood frozen for a moment before joining him in the passenger seat. 

“No Happy?” He asked, putting his seat belt on. 

“Nah,” Tony replied. “He’s helping Pepper and this sounded important.” He pulled out into the street and headed towards the highway. Peter felt guilty all over again, he had made Mr. Stark drive himself all the way to Queens, and now he was getting his car all dirty with chili and blood. 

“I’m sorry.” He croaked, leaning his head back. “For causing so much trouble.”

“From what I saw, you didn’t cause anything. That kid didn’t have a single hit on him Pete. It’s not your fault some people are assholes.” Tony consoled, keeping his eyes on the road. 

“But you still had to drive all the way down here because of me.” 

“Pfft, are you kidding? I enjoyed the drive. Better than staring at the same old wall in the workroom. Besides, this is my job now.” He said, taking a sharp left. “A job that I signed up for, I might add.” 

Peter smiled a little to himself, that helped. He kept forgetting that Tony chose him. He wanted Peter at the tower with him, he wanted to help Peter and Peter wanted to be with Tony. He meant what he said in the office, it felt good to have someone be there.

New, but good.

 

“Hold still.” Tony said firmly, holding the kids chin in his hand and a wet cloth in his other. Peter would heal quickly, but Tony didn’t want to risk the chance of him getting any sort of infection. “I’m almost done.” 

Peter seemed to want to do anything _but_ hold still. He was twisting and shifting, and kept moving his head to look out the window. After Tony got the last patch of dried blood he put his hands up.

“There you go, done. That wasn’t so hard, was it?” He said, throwing the cloth to the side. Peter pushed his hair back, looking a little uncomfortable. He was in clean clothes, a large stark shirt and joggers.

“I’m sorry, again.” The kid said, fiddling with his hands. 

“Don’t be.” Tony replied, sitting on the table next to Peter. “Just tell me what happened.”

Peter looked reluctant but began his story, starting from picking up his food at the canteen and finishing with him briefly going unconscious. Tony went through every kind of emotion. Anger, pride, concern, and a lot more anger. What the hell was wrong with that Flash kid? It bothered him even more that he brought up Peter being trans. 

“Why, why didn’t you fight back?” He asked, baffled. Peter could easily take Flash. That kid was a bit of a wimp. 

“Because,” Peter sighed. “It’s not that easy, Mr. Stark. He’s been bullying me for.. For forever. I was never able to fight back before, why should I now? And I don’t want to hurt anyone. One of my punches is equal to like 50 of his, that’s not fair.” 

Tony was surprised, In the best way. How did Peter constantly manage to impress him? How did he have such a remarkable moral compass? Tony wouldn’t have thought twice about hurting someone who hurt him, but Peter had a whole plan to avoid hurting people. 

“I understand, Pete. But you can’t let this continue. I can’t let this continue, what if it’s worse next time? What if this is just the start of something?”

Peter shook his head and gave Tony a pleading look. “He always stops for a while after something happens, it’ll be fine Tony, I can handle it. Things are always worse when parents get involved, trust me. You become known all around school for being _that_ kid.” 

There it was again, that word that made Tony want to smile, sweat, and run all at once. _Parent._ Peter had said it twice today. Tony knew it was just easier to say than guardian but it still made his stomach do a little jump, in a happy way. 

“You tell me if he does _anything,_ ” Tony reasoned, “I mean anything. I promise I won’t get involved, but I want to know what’s going on.” 

“Okay, Yeah. I promise.” Peter replied, smiling a little. Although with his eye swollen, it looked rather strange. Tony patted the kids back and Peter hopped down from the table. “I’m just going to check my emails,” he said. “See what I missed at school, and text Ned.” 

“Oh that’s right! What was the bad news?” Tony remembered, Peter had been worrying about Ned all night. 

“He’s going to Florida fo-“

“That is bad news. Terrible news, send him my condolences.” Tony joked. What could he say, Florida sucked. 

Peter looked like he was holding back a smile. “-for a little over a month, his Gran is really sick.” 

“Oh. In that case, I really am sorry.” He replied. Peter shrugged and started walking out of the workshop.

“What can you do, right? Thanks again, Tony.” He gave him a smile before exiting the workshop, Tony could hear as he dashed up the stairs. 

Everytime Peter called him ‘Tony’ instead of ‘Mr. Stark’, he couldn’t help but smile a little. He chuckled to himself and wiped up some chili from his work table, the kid was definitely putting him through all the stops. He had never imagined he’d be at a high school to pick up his kid from a fight, he never thought he’d have kids. But Peter wasn’t really _his_ kid, was he? He was _a_ kid, that Tony looked after. 

Tony threw the paper towel he was using into the trash can and sighed. Who was he kidding? He cared a lot about Peter, one way or another, like it or not, Peter was his kid. It’s what he signed up for, and he didn’t regret it for a second. Yes, he was really confused 99% of the time, but he never regretted it. 

“Friday, can you check for any press leaks?” He said, flopping himself down in his swivel chair. He tried to be as incognito as he could, taking his least expensive car and dressing down as much as would be acceptable. But there was always the risk of getting caught. Tony didn’t really care what the press thought of him, he cared about Peter. The kid shouldn’t have to deal with all that yet, he was hardly settled in to the tower. 

“No new updates, Sir.” She stated. Tony sighed in relief and pushed his chair towards his work desk. Peter didn’t need more things to be anxious about, the kid was practically sick with worry. Luckily, Tony had made him an appointment with his therapist earlier that morning. 

Tony got to work cleaning off his table. It was completely covered with an assortment of useless papers. Most of them illegible notes he scribbled down late at night, and the ones you could read didn’t even make sense. He was pretty out of it until he came across a cleanly printed page. His draft for Peters rules. He smiled a little and read it over. 

_1) Don’t be dumb. If it seems like it’s a bad idea, don’t do it. Common sense is your best friend_   
_2) School and homework come first, no internet or texting until it’s all done._   
_3) No Spiderman-ing on school nights, and always tell me before you go out. NO MUTING YOUR PHONE_   
_4) Clean up after yourself, dishes, your bathroom, make your bed, all that awful stuff. If I have to do it, so do you._   
_5) ~~No swearing?? Can 15 year olds swear??~~ Avoid profanities. _   
_6) Tell me if you’re sick, injured, having anxiety, anything. Don’t sit there and keep it all to yourself._   
_7) Lights off at 11_   
_8) I’m the adult so I can add to this list if I need too._   
_9) No pets, you have enough responsibilities as it is_   
_10) No substance abuse. This is not up for any debate._   
_11) Binder off as soon as you get home from school, no exceptions._

Tony had to admit, he got a lot of the rules from a site called ‘Pinterest’. What was he supposed to do? He didn’t know the first thing about teenagers, he himself was an awful one. So he tried to give Peter the rules that would have kept a young Tony in check. But really, he could not imagine Peter ever abusing any kind of substance. 

Tony stuck the list into his desk drawer, he actually wanted to keep that. 

The kid had been pretty accepting of all the rules, he only seemed a little iffy on number 3 and number 11. Tony expected that though, he knew how much Spider-man meant to Peter. And how stubborn he was about his binder. But he trusted Peter enough to know he wouldn’t go behind Tony’s back, he was too good of a kid. 

 

 

Peters missed assignments weren’t hard at all. In fact, after an hour he was already done half of them. It was sort of fun working while he healed, slowly he was able to see more of his screen as the swelling in his eye went down. 

He rewarded himself with a small break, scrolling through the twitter account Ned had set up for him and replying to a couple things he was tagged in. He only looked briefly though, he knew Tony didn’t want him on his phone until everything was done. 

So Peter moved onto his next assignment, English. He had to submit his email to a penpal website and “make a friend from far away”. He actually thought the idea was sort of fun, and eagerly pulled the webpage up. He enter his email and information, (where he lived, his school, interests, age) and created his profile. He decided to wait for someone to email him instead of the other way around, he never knew what to say first. 

With that done, and some quick math he was completely finished. He felt good, he always felt good after homework. He liked to test himself and see what he knew, and he _loved_ math. Everything always made sense when it came to his studies, he just wished that was the case for his real life.

Peter shut down his computer and stretched, wincing a little when his chest touched his sweater. He hated that feeling. He felt like a normal guy until his ugly body decided to make itself known to him again. He tried to shake it off and made his way out of his room and down the hall, Mr. Stark would take his mind off everything. He usually did. Peter felt a vibration in his pocket and he looked down at his phone,

_“rumours only grow.”_ A text from an unknown number. What the hell did that mean? He screenshotted the message and then deleted it, shutting his phone off again. It was probably nothing, but it was good to have receipts just in case. 

He shook his head and continued his walk downstairs to the workroom, Tony greeted him with a smile. 

“All done your work squirt? You can help me with something I’m working on if you like.” 

Peter smiled, Tony managed to make even the worst of days better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Peters email: Peter.b.park02@gmail.com  
> Peters Twitter: @peterparkreee  
> Ned’s Twitter: @leadsned


	8. First Snow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you if you emailed Peter! He will get back to ALL of you, just be patient! I have couple broken ribs and a fever so it’s hard to write rn, sorry for any mistakes.

“SoI’vecomeupwithalistofthingsIneedfromMay’s” Peter babbled, a couple fruit loops falling from his mouth. Tony was leaning across from him on the counter, watching him with a disgusted look.

“One, I have no idea what you just said.” Tony stated, taking a sip of his coffee. “Two, if you talk with your mouth full like that again, I’m leaving.” 

It was early morning, around six thirty and light was starting to pour through the towers many windows. Tony had a radio playing by the microwave, it was mostly Christmas ads but they didn’t care. It was nice to have some background sound.

Peter finished chewing and tried again, “I said, I’ve come up with a list of things I need to get from May’s” 

“See I thought you said something about craving mayonnaise.” Tony chuckled, picking up the coffee pot and pouring himself another cup. “What’s the list? I’ll send it out to Happy, he can go after he drops you off.” 

Peter pushed his bowl to the side and wiped his mouth, he pulled out his phone and pulled up the list he worked on. 

“Okay,” he started. “One, my box of legos under my bed. Two, the small memory box in the back of my closet. Three, my original Spider-Man costume-“

“To burn?” Tony interrupted, smirking at Peter from behind his coffee cup. Peter just rolled his eyes.

“-and finally, four, my testosterone. if May didn’t throw it out. It should just be on my bed where she left it.” He finished, pouring himself another bowl of cereal. He ate quickly, Happy would text him saying he had arrived any second now. 

“Peter, we’re going to have to talk about that..” Tony said gently. Peter heard him set his coffee cup down but he didn’t look up, he was captivated by his phone. He didn’t actually think he would get a reply to his PenPal profile so quickly. 

“About May?” He replied absentmindedly, opening the email. “Just a second.” 

_“Hi, how are you?_

_I'm Mia and I'm 15 and from England_

_I enjoy are gaming (even if it is at the late hours of night)_

_I also really love music, mostly of the punk/pop punk genre_

_Finally I like animals, mainly reptiles I have a pet snake and some stick insects myself!_

_Anything you enjoy?_

_I apologize if I rambled on I find it quite hard to speak to people in real life or online._

_I haven't really spoken to anyone American apart from some distant relatives I see every few years so it'd be nice to maybe find some differences in what we do?  
It's actually summer holidays where I am so no school for 6 whole weeks! Which is awesome_

_Hope to hear back from you!  
-Mia” _

He smiled a little and started to type out his response, he really did not expect to actually meet cool people. But Mia seemed nice, he was pretty pleased with this assignment.

“-Peter are you listening to me?” Tony’s voice asked, but Peter didn’t have _time_ to talk about May. He needed to answer this email, and Happy had just texted him that he was downstairs.

“I’m sorry, Tony,” he said, standing up in a hurry and grabbing his coat and bag. “Happy’s ready for me downstairs. But we can talk about May later.” He hurried to the elevator and hopped in as soon as FRIDAY opened it. He did feel a little bad for ditching Mr. Stark mid-sentence, but he couldn’t be late. Not after the trouble he caused yesterday. 

“Peter! Ah, god. Have a good day!” Tony shouted, Peter barely heard it before the elevator doors closed. 

 

Tony sighed and put Peters bowl in the dishwasher. He’d have to talk to the kid at some point, he just didn’t know when. He was so bubbly today, the last thing Tony wanted to do was bring his mood down. It felt like stepping on a puppy. 

Telling the kid his testosterone wouldn’t work… how did he even start that conversation? The kid must know, he was a smart kid. He knew how quickly his enhanced system burned through things, so what the hell was Peter’s game plan? 

He filled his coffee cup again and headed down to his workshop. If he managed to sleep, Tony never used to wake up before noon. But he felt like he should make sure Peter got something in his stomach before school, and he liked wishing him a good day. 

He had read somewhere that meal time was the most important for newly adopted kids. Not that Peter was adopted, but he figured the situation was similar. Something about having a routine to help with ‘bonding.’ 

He got it from Pinterest. Which he actually was starting to like, he almost found himself wanting to try and cook. He couldn’t help it, they made the recipes look so… easy, and tasty.

He unlocked his workshop and strode in, a little taken aback by the mess. That’s right, he and Peter got a little carried away last night.

 

_“Mr. Stark, WATCH OUT!” Peter shouted. Tony ducked just before a small robotic bird hit him in the head. He caught it in his hand, looking it over._

_“Jesus kid. That was close.” He said, walking over to where Peter was working. “What is this anyway?” He carefully handed it to the boy._

_“It’s just a little project I thought might be cool. I know you don’t like pets and robotic cats and dogs are so overdone. I thought I could make a little bird, but I’m having trouble working out how much it should be able to carry. I don’t want it to affect its speed or agility.” Peter replied, taking the bird and opening the back of it with his screwdriver. “It’s sort of dumb. What’re you working on?”_

_“It’s not dumb,” Tony assured, taking a seat next to Peter. “Could be damn useful, let’s have a look.”_

_Tony and Peter ended up making around 22 robotic birds, and had a fun time flying their small army around the workshop. They put them through countless tests, how much could they carry, could they fly through fire, what temperature did they combust at, could Peter hit them with his webs. Things got out of hand quickly._

_Peter ended up falling asleep with his head on the table at around 10. Tony gently shook him awake again and helped him up to bed._

_The kid fell back asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow._

 

Tony smiled to himself and picked some webs off of his main monitor, he’d clean it all up with Peter later. He knew he had a way to dissolve his webs. 

He sat himself down in his chair and pulled up Bruce’s contact. it was early but Bruce was usually awake, and he really want to figure out somethings before he talked to Peter. 

He had to find a way to make the testosterone work, and he knew Bruce was his guy.

 

Peter walked to his locker with ease, knowing there was no Flash to cause any trouble really lifted a weight off his shoulder. His mood dropped a bit when his usual bubbly friend wasn’t there to greet him. 

That’s right, Ned’s plane left at the crack of dawn that morning. Peter unlocked his locker and took off his jacket and backpack. He pulled out his phone and shot a text to his friend.

_“Let me know when you land, school already sucks without you. -p”_

He locked his phone and stuck it in his pocket. He knew Ned probably wouldn’t answer until later that night. He grabbed the books he needed for bio and shut his locker. 

“Peter, right?” A husky voice said. Peter dropped his books in surprise, setting a hand on his chest. 

“Jesus!” He exclaimed. The kid in front of him bent down and picked up Peters books, looking at him apologetically. He had deep set, green eyes and longer ash-toned hair that fell to his shoulders. He looked a couple grades ahead of Peter but he wasn’t sure. 

“Oh shit, I’m sorry man. I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to say hi.” He said, handing Peter his books. He took them cautiously and studied the boy. No one ever just wanted to ‘say hi’ to Peter. People always wanted him to help with their homework or write a paper for them. 

“Okay..” he replied awkwardly, propping his books under his arm and sticking his hand out. “You were right, it’s Peter. And you are…?”

The boy took his hand and shook it joyfully, “Grayson.” he smiled “I thought it was cool you stood up to Flash like that. Spitting in his face? That’s wild dude! I didn’t know you were so badass!” Peter slowly took his hand back and gave Grayson and awkward smile.

“I’m not, really. The spitting was a bit to far if I’m being honest, sort of regret it.” He admitted, starting his walk to bio.

“Regret it? He was an ass, you should have gone further in my opinion. Anyways, you seem like a great dude, Peter.” Grayson rambled, he walked next to Peter and threw his arm around him, ruffling his hair. Peter flinched a little and couldn’t help but wrinkle his nose. He smelled like cigarettes and… was that skunk? “We should hang sometime. I know your buddy is gone for a while, so if you need people to chill with, I got you.” 

“Um, yeah sure.” Peter murmured absentmindedly, he was noticing a couple of Flash’s friends glaring at him. He swallowed hard.

“Really? Sweet. There’s a party this Friday night, come.” That pulled Peter back into reality pretty quickly. He didn’t think this guy was serious about hanging out. He thought it was one of those, “let’s catch up!” Things. Where you talk about it a lot, but never actually meet up. 

“Wait, actually?”

“Yeah dude! Here, give me your number and I’ll send you the details.” Grayson responded. Peter couldn’t shake the feeling that this was an elaborate trap, but that was probably just his anxiety, right?

So Peter scribbled his number on a small scrap of paper and handed it off to the guy, trying to shake his unnecessary anxiety. He was going to a party, this was good. Not something to be worried about. Grayson stuck the paper in his pocket and gave Peter some kind of strange salute before running off to his class. 

Peter walked into his bio class a little dazed, did that just happen? Wait until he told Ned. He shook his head to clear it and pulled out his books, he’d process the party after class. 

 

The rest of the day went by fairly easily, just a little sadder without Ned. His teachers were pleased he had finished his work, and he was really enjoying his English class. The pen pal thing was actually pretty great, he didn’t know how many other kids like him there were. He had even heard from someone all the way in Malaysia.

Grayson popped up a lot, always taking Peter off guard. He was a really friendly kid, Peter noted. And something about him seemed almost familiar. He sat with Peter at lunch and asked him a lot of questions, most of which he deflected to his best ability. Why was this kid so nosy? 

The more Peter talked to him though, the more he found himself wanting to impress him. Grayson seemed to think he was some kind of badass, and Peter sort of liked it. Even though he had nothing to contribute when Grayson rambled on about his drunk stories. Peter had never even sipped alcohol, but he didn’t want Grayson to know that. Maybe this was his chance to be cool. He’d have to talk to Ned about it later. 

Pete walked down the halls to the side exit, a slight spring in his step. He had music playing in one ear, ( _Sidekick, by WALK THE MOON)_ and was genuinely in a pretty good mood, despite Ned being gone. At least he met someone new. And now he’d get to go home and take his first testosterone shot. And he and Tony would work some more lab, and it would be a perfect day. He needed more days like that. 

He pushed the door open and jogged down the ally to a side street that he and Happy decided was best for pickup. He walked up to a slick black car and pulled his headphone out.

Mr. Stark was there again. In the driver's seat. Did he do something wrong? Peter opened the door and climbed in, holding his backpack in his lap.

“Uh, hey Tony. What’s up? Is Happy okay?” He cautioned, pulling his seatbelt on. Mr Stark was dressed in a pretty nice grey suit, he was also sporting his usual glasses. Orange tinted today.

“Haps fine, gave him the afternoon off.” Tony replied, pulling out of park and onto the road.

“Not to be rude then, but why are you here? Don’t you have work to do?” Peter said, setting his backpack on the ground by his feet.

“Eh, work can wait. I thought we could get some hot chocolate, I need to talk to you about something.” 

That made Peters stomach drop. It was never good when people ‘needed to talk about things’. Especially not when people bought you something delicious beforehand. That was just common sense. 

“Oh.” Peter echoed. “Is it May?” He was starting to remember the conversation from earlier that morning, it was May Tony had mentioned, right?

“No, no actually it’s not. But we’ll get to that once I get some sugar in me.” He said. “How was your day squirt? Go okay without Ned?” 

Peter took a moment to reply, he was trying to gather his thoughts. If not May, then what? Did something bad happened? Did he do something wrong? But Tony didn’t seem mad or disappointed or anything. Maybe it was actually good news, maybe Peter was overreacting.

“It wasn’t bad, actually.” He started. “I think I met a new friend? Not sure yet, but he invited me to a party on Friday night. Classes were good, the teachers were really pleased I finished all that stuff on time. And it was great not having Flash, his friends were there but they wouldn’t ever do anything without him. So, pretty good day. How was yours?” He took a deep breath, he forgot to breathe between his words.

“Woah, woah, hold on” Tony said, swerving into a turning lane for Starbucks. “Can you back up? You got invited to a party? Do they know about your LEGO Star Wars collection?” He teased.

“-what? No! Of course not! God they would kick me out. Yes, I got invited to a party. It’s no big deal, it’s chill. Parties happen. I’m going to one” he replied, fiddling with his zipper.

“You’re sweating.” Tony smiled, pulling into the drive through. Peter quickly dabbed his forehead with the back of his jacket. Mr. Stark pulled up to the box and rolled his window down. “Yeah, I’ll have two grande hot chocolates. No, that’ll be all, thanks.” 

They got their hot chocolate and drove off. Peter was guessing this was a Starbucks Tony went to regularly since the, “OMG it’s Tony Stark!!” Was quieter than usual. 

“So, whos the new friend? Did you meet him in geek-a-thon or whatever?” He continued, still smiling. Peter rolled his eyes and hid a smile of his own behind his plastic cup.

“No, I didn’t. And its decathlon. He just introduced himself to me, heard I stood up to Flash and thought I was cool. His name is Grayson, and he’s in my grade. Looks older though” he mused, taking a sip of his coco.

“Huh. Well, as long as you have all your homework done, I don’t see a problem with you going.” Tony said, pulling over. Peter didn’t realize but he had drove them to the outskirts of the city, it was rather high up so he could see out at a lot of New York. Mr. Stark got out of the car and Peter followed, holding his cup tightly for warmth. 

“So, Pete.” He started, leaning against the hood of the car. Peter copied him but slowly, he was scared he might scratch something.

“So, Tony” Peter mimicked. He heard Mr. Stark chuckled.

“We have to talk about your testosterone” he said, suddenly sounding a lot more serious. Peters stomach sank a little and he sipped his coco.

“Did May throw it out? I can save up again for another dose if you don’t want to pay- I totally understand, Mr. Stark.” 

“No, she didn’t throw out. It was there.” Peter sighed in relief, it took him ages to have the money for that. And after everything Tony had done for him, he didn’t want to have to ask the man to do more.

“Then..?” Peter shivered, holding his cup closer to his chest. He couldn’t wrap his head around what might be wrong surrounding his testosterone.

“Peter, you’re a smart kid. You know as well as I do that it’s not going to work.” Tony said gently, staring out at the City. It was an overcast day, not a speck of sun was in sight.

Peter bit his lip, he knew where this was going now. He had thought it over countless times. He had worried over it for nights and nights, but his excitement for his testosterone stopped him from really thinking it through. From actually finding a solution. He just wanted the drug, he’s figure the rest out as he went.

“I thought I’d try. Maybe it would. I was going to just up the dose” 

“That wouldn’t have worked, Pete.”

“We won’t know unless we try! Mr. Stark, if we just try, it’ll all work out.” He begged, he felt panic rise in his chest. He needed this to work out, this had to work.

“Kid...no. We’re not experimenting with it like you’re some sort of guinea pig. It’s not happening” Tony said firmly. Peter felt tears well up in his eyes, tears of frustration. Mr. Stark didn’t understand. He needed this, this wasn’t something he could just avoid. He had been waiting for this since he found out it existed. Some nights, when he couldn’t find anything to help him keep going, when there was nothing in life for him, knowing he would get on testosterone someday pulled him through. He wanted to live to see himself become the man he felt he was. But if that was taken away, if it would never happened, what did he have?

“Bruce is coming over Sunday, we can talk to him about it. I promise you we’ll find a way for it to work, safely.” He continued. Peter snapped his head up.

“Wait, you- you mean I’ll still go on it?” He croaked. Tony looked at him, saw his tears and immediately put his arm around Peters shoulders. 

“God Peter, of course. I’ll find a way. I wouldn’t take that from you. I’m just sorry it’s not as soon as you wanted.” He reasoned, giving Peters shoulder a firm pat. 

Peter shut his eyes and took a deep breath. He was okay, it was okay. Tony would figure something out. He would still go on his testosterone, and it would work. He trusted Mr. Stark, he would fix this. He always did.

“I um, thank you” he whispered, wiping his remaining tears. He was starting to feel embarrassed for getting so upset. He took some deep breaths, subconsciously moving closer to Tony for warmth. He hoped he didn’t notice.

“Don’t mention it.” Tony replied, “Check it out, first snow.” 

Peter looked up and saw Tony was right, large white flakes were just starting to fall from the sky. He shivered and sipped more of his hot chocolate, watching the tranquil sight. 

A part of him suddenly felt a little sad. May used to take him out shopping on the first snow of every winter. Yes, it was clothes he hated, and a person he wasn’t. But it was still spending time with his aunt. A part of him was wondering if he should miss her more. 

But as he watch the snowfall, he was sure of one thing,

He was glad he was watching it with Tony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Btw, Grayson is not a romantic intrest with Peter. His intrest in this fic is MJ


	9. To The Governor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Give me the suit. Now.” He ordered. Peter didn’t move. He couldn’t. He had messed up big. Tony seemed to run out of patience, he strode over to Peter and physically took it from his hands. As soon as it was gone, Peter felt a couple tears well in his eyes. Mr. Stark walked to the door, anger boiling off him.
> 
> “Tony, wait. Just wait, please wait. I need the suit, I gotta-“
> 
> “Goodnight, Peter.” He said in a monotone. “Lights, Friday” 
> 
> And then he was alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m posting this while at the ER, that’s dedication, bitches.

“Are you even watching?” Tony said, obviously a little annoyed. He had put on FRIENDS to eat with the shawarma, M&M’s and popcorn he bought. But Peter had gotten caught up texting Ned. 

He had a lot to catch his friend up on, and a lot to ask. Ned wasn’t able to call because family was around so they settled for texting. He didn’t mean to stop watching the show completely, it just sort of happened as he zoned out. 

“Talking to your girlfriend?” He teased, nudging Peter with his foot. Peter looking up from his phone and rolled his eyes.

“No. I’m talking to Ned, and Mj.” He replied, instantly going back to the message he was typing out.

“Who’s MJ?” Tony persisted, leaning to try and look at his phone.

“Just a girl from school. She’s head of the Decathlon team, she’s pretty cool too. Once she warms up to you” Peter sent MJ a quick Snapchat and shut his phone, tossing it to the side.

“Do you think she’s pretty?” Mr. Stark smirked, leaning back on the couch and tossing a couple M&M’s into his mouth. 

“I, what? No. That’s, that’s a trick question. All girls are pretty.” Peter stuttered. He wished Tony would change the subject already, his micro-crush on MJ was not something he wanted to talk about with his idol.

“So you _do_ think she’s pretty. That’s interesting, very interesting. Do you think she likes you? How long have you known her-“

“How’s Pepper?” Peter interrupted, giving the older man a sly smile. Tony threw an M&M at his forehead. That was fair 

“We do actually need to talk though,” Tony said, reaching out and turning the TV off. “Just about the party, don’t freak out.” 

Peter took a sigh of relief, he didn’t want to deal with more tears. Mr. Stark reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone, obviously reading off something.

“Okay, so I have a couple rules-“

“From Pinterest?” Peter smiled.

“No. Maybe one of them. That’s not the point,” Tony defended

“Have you considered joining a Facebook group? I hear there’s some great ones for single, bored, moms like you. Maybe you can meet some friends, trade minion memes” Peter mused, watching Mr. Stark with a wide smile.

“I’m going to disown you. Now listen this is important.” He replied, smiling a little himself. “Okay, one, if you feel unsafe or something, call Happy or me to come and get you.” 

Peter tried to suppress his smile. All he could think about was that “mom, come and pick me up the kids are drinking beer” vine. 

“Two, remember the rule about substance abuse? That. But there’s a big difference between abuse and having a drink, kid. Have one, and leave it at that. One is just fine for you.” Tony continued. Peter agreed with that one, he didn’t think he even liked alcohol, he’d just have one to fit in.

“And three, for the love of god have fun. Do some dumb stuff. Legal dumb stuff, but dumb. But not too dumb. You know what? Scratch that. Use common sense but have a good time. And say no to drugs.” He finished, closing his phone. Peter looked at him with an amused face.

“Tony, I’m probably just going to hang out with the person's dog the whole time. If it gets boring, I’ll bring my suit along and go out on patrol instead. And yes,” he said, cutting Tony off before he could even start “I will call you before I go out in it.” 

Tony smiled and reached over to ruffle Peters hair. “Alright squirt, you pass all the tests. And I know I don’t have to say this, but if you drink, no. Suit.” He said firmly. Peter rolled his eyes, already back on his phone to message Ned. He wasn’t _that_ dumb. 

 

The week passed quickly, and Peter found himself settling into his routine at the tower. He woke up, had cereal and listened to the radio with Tony, Happy would drop him off at school and pick him up later, he would take his binder off and finish his homework, he and Tony would have dinner and watch FRIENDS, and then they’d work in the workshop together. 

He thought maybe living with Tony Stark would be a little distant and lonely. He was, after all, _Tony Stark._ He must have a million things to do, and hanging around with a kid couldn’t be one of them. But so far, Tony was hardly leaving the tower when Peter was home. It was new, and relaxing to actually have someone be there. Someone who wanted to be there. 

So, when the week came to a close and Friday rolled around, Peter was feeling pretty darn good. Until he realized he had to find something to wear.

For a moment he thought he might try something new, something cool that Grayson would wear. But he quickly scratched that idea and settled for a plain grey t-shirt and faded green flannel. A more subtle version of what he usually wore to school, he didn’t think science pun t-shirts would be a hit at a party. 

He brushed his teeth, tried to smooth down his hair and exited his room, grabbing his backpack with his Spiderman suit on the way. His palms were already starting to sweat a little from nerves. What if people somehow figured out he was trans?

“Please tell me you’re not wearing that” Tony interrupted his thoughts, walking over to Peter and fixing his collar. Peter smiled a little at Tony’s teasing. Somehow, it calmed him down.

“Well. At least you’re being yourself” he joked, giving Peter a firm slap on his back. “Where’s Happy dropping you off?”

“Actually, Grayson is picking me up.” He answered, checking his phone to make sure he didn’t miss his friends arrival. 

“You told him you were staying here?” Tony replied, sounding a little panicked. Peter didn’t blame him, they had both decided they were ready for the public to know.

“What? No. Every knows I intern here, I told him I come here after school. Don’t worry.” 

“God, don’t scare me like that, kid. Thought I was going to have to get a gag order on this guy. Now,” he moved Peter’s head from his phone to make him look at him.

“Remember what we talked about? Actually have fun?”

“Yes, Tony. And don’t be stupid. I remember” he smiled, moving away and shrugging his jacket on. Tony worrying about him and wanting him to be a normal kid was nothing new to him, the guy had been doing it since he met Peter. It was nice, most of the times. Annoying others, Peter wasn’t a total child. He was still a superhero. When his phone dinged from a text from Grayson telling him he was parked outside, Peter dashed to the elevator. “That’s him!”

“Try to be home at a slightly reasonable hour!” Tony yelled after him, Peter just rolled his eyes as the elevator doors closed. 

 

Tony was a lot more worried than he let Peter think. He was sat down in his workshop, sipping his third cup of coffee that hour. There was no way he was going to sleep until Peter was home. 

He told Peter to have a good time, enjoy himself, be safe. But what he wanted to say was, ‘don’t do it, don’t drink. Not a single drop because I don’t want you to go through what I went through. Don’t say yes just because you don’t think you’re strong enough to say no.’ 

But he didn’t, he didn’t because Tony knew that Peter wasn’t him. Peter was a good kid, a smart kid. A kid with an incredible moral compass. Tony trusted him, but god he still worried. 

Because yes, Peter was a good kid. And a smart kid. But he was also a broken kid, searching for approval from everyone. And Tony knew where that lead you. 

 

 

The moment Peter stepped into Grayson’s old truck, he wondered if he should just turn around and go back to the tower. At first he thought the kids aruma was skunk, but he was now realizing it was most definitely pot. Not that Peter had anything against it, it just wasn’t something he was familiar with. And he wasn’t sure if you should be high while driving. 

“Dude! Hell yeah, buckle up. Parties like 10 minutes away” Grayson greeted, giving Peter a warm but dazed smile. 

“Okay, yeah, cool.” Peter replied, pressing his lips into a flat smile. He was feeling very awkward, and the music Grayson was blasting from his radio was upsetting his senses.

“Did you bring cash?” Grayson asked, taking a sharp right.

“Um, no? Sorry I didn’t think we’d be eating out or anything, I just won’t have any and-“

“Not for food Pete,” Grayson chuckled. “Can I call you Pete? It’s for alcohol, don’t sweat it though. I’ll spot you and you just pay me back on Monday.” 

“Sure? But really, you don’t have to spot me. I just won’t drink. No biggie.” Peter replied, feeling his hands start to sweat again. 

“That’s funny, Pete.” Grayson chuckled more. “Not drink, yeah, okay.” 

Alright so he definitely was not getting out of drinking tonight. Grayson just meant like, one, right? That’s what Tony said he could have, and that was probably what most people had. That would be fine. He had no idea what beer tastes like, but he figured it must be good since kids were always talking about it. 

Grayson swerved his trunk to park against the curb and turned the engine off. That’s when a thought hit Peter.

“Wait, how can you drive?” He asked, looking over at his new friend. Grayson just rolled his eyes at him and undid his seatbelt, pulling out a twenty from his pocket and handing it to Peter. 

“Don’t worry about that. Here’s twenty, you just let me know if you need more. But you seriously owe me dude.” He replied. Peter took it carefully and stuck it in his front pocket. He was a little concerned about Grayson response to the driving question. Peter didn’t want to get in trouble if Grayson was pulled over. 

“Right, thanks” Peter said, taking his seatbelt off and stepping out of the trunk. He left his backpack under the seat and he mentally reminded himself to grab it when he left. He could not lose his suit. 

Grayson led the way towards a rather run down looking house. You could see a lot of bodies moving in the windows and Peter wondered just how big this party was. 

As soon as they stepped in, Peter knew this was nothing like the party he and Ned had been too earlier that year. This wasn’t full of his friends or classmates, it was a mix of people. Some looked like they could be in Peters grade, others looked like they were well into college. The whole house had a thick layer of smoke in it, Peter could feel it in his lungs when he took a deep breath. His binded chest was not loving it. The smoke, in combination with the pounding music was making his senses go heywire. 

“This way dude,” Grayson tapped his shoulder and walked through the crowd to a slightly less packed kitchen. There was an older kid standing in front of the fridge with a tin box beside him. Grayson went over and talked to him while Peter awkwardly stood to the side.

A couple minutes later Grayson came back. He held his hand out, giving Peter a reassuring smile.

“Hey, give me your twenty back, I cut a deal with this guy. He’s giving us two cases, as long as we stand here and take watch while he goes out to buy some more.” He said. Peter fumbled for his money and handed it to Grayson. He was really confused as to what they were going to do with two whole cases of beer, but he was feeling to out of place to ask questions. Grayson handed Peter his case and gave his back a pat.

“Here, you go and mingle. I’ll come and meet you. The liquor store isn’t far so he won’t be long. You wanted to meet new people, right?” Peter nodded. “My friends usually hang out in the living room, go introduce yourself.” 

So, Peter left. Not because he really wanted too, he wanted to stay with the one person he knew. But because he felt like he didn’t have a choice. Not to mention, the looks he was getting from people told him he was starting to stand out. He felt everyone looking at him, wondering what that _kid_ was doing here. He had to blend in more.

As soon as Peter stepped out of the kitchen, the sound and smoke came at him again, he forgot how intense the whole scene was. Tons of bodies all moving together, smoke that stayed thick in the back of his throat. And the music that he could feel in his chest, making his whole body shake a little. He wondered if this was what all parties were supposed to be like. Maybe the one Liz held was an exception. 

Peter made his way into what he assumed was the living room, holding his case of beer tightly to his chest. The room was a little quieter than the hall, but definitely more smoke filled, to the point where Peter wondered if he could get high from just inhaling the air. He pushed himself past people with a couple ‘excuse me’s and ‘pardon me’s and sat down on the couch, next to a older girl who was laid on her back. She had long, dark brown hair and wore a red tank top and black leggings. She had a drink in one hand held a joint in the other.

Peter was very very out of place. Peter should definitely go home. If he just snuck out, would Grayson notice? 

No, no, no. He needed to have fun, relax. Make friends. This is what all kids his age did. Probably, he wasn’t sure. He only really knew Ned and MJ. 

“You, are very tense.” The girl said, giving Peter a loopy smile. Peter chuckled nervously.

“I Uh, yeah I guess I am”

“First party?” She asked. Peter hesitated before giving in, giving her an awkward smile.

“Sort of, yeah” he admitted. The girl sat up and put her joint out, looking at Peter with curiosity.

“I could tell. Have a drink, you’ll feel better” she mused. Peter was wondering just how old this mystery girl was. But he obliged, opening his case and cracking one of the beers open. He realized he wasn’t exactly sure _how_ to drink it, so he took a look around the room for an idea. His eyes landed on a taller guy who opened a drink, chugged it and crushed the can.

So that’s exactly what Peter did. 

“Woah, shit look at you go!” The girl laughed, laying her hand on his shoulder. The beer was room temperature, and tasted a little bitter. It made his face scrunch up a little, he thought this was supposed to taste good. 

“Hey, random question.” She said as Peter opened another can. He didn’t feel any different, maybe his fast metabolism would keep him from getting drunk. “Are you like… a lesbian or a 12 year old boy?” Peter almost spat his beer out.

“I’m 15, actually.” He murmured. The girl smile and reached to play with a couple pieces of his hair.

“Cute” she breathed, her breath smelled strong, like the kind of alcohol Tony would occasionally drink. He gave her a pressed smile back, and quickly drank his second beer. 

“Hellllo~” a voice sang, and Grayson plopped down on the couch on Peters other side. “I see you’ve met Jen, run while you can” he joked. Peter wondered if maybe he had some drinks while guarding the fridge, he seemed to slur his words a little more than usual. 

“HEY! Everyone! Let’s play ‘cheers to the governor!” Grayson yelled. Peter relaxed. Thank god, games. He loved games. 

 

This was not what Peter had in mind when they decided to play a game. There were about twelve of them, all sitting in different places in living room. Some on the ground, some on couches. Surrounded by drinks. Peter could feel his head start to get a little fuzzy.

The game was simple, they went around and said numbers, until someone reached 21. Then they’d all yell “cheers to the governor!” And drink. The person who said 21 would get to make a rule. The first rule was, “Skip drinks when someone says ‘seven’” Whoever Skip was. 

It was when Grayson issued a rule that Peter had to drink every time a girl said a number, that things started to get a little crazy. His head was swimming and he felt like maybe he had a fever or something. No matter what he did, he just couldn’t focus his thoughts, and he didn’t really want too. It felt sort of nice to be laughing and drinking with people, they weren’t judging him. They were just having fun. 

“21!” Jen yelled dramatically. The room was filled with a chorus of “cheers to the governor!” And they all took a drink, other than Peter. He took two. 

“Okay, okay” Jen slurred. “Everyone who says an odd number has to take their shirt off” Peter heard the rule, but for some reason, he was so caught up in the moment that his usual “danger! You’re going to be found out!” wasn’t going off. He wasn’t a trans boy here, he was just Peter. Just like all the other guys around him. 

“ONE.” Grayson yelled, pulling his shirt off and laughing. He was obviously very pleased with this rule.

“Two!” A girls voice said. Peter took a drink, at this point he wasn’t really tasting it. He felt like he wasn’t even really present. 

“Three!” Another girl. Another drink. Although he almost spat it out when he saw it was Jen. She made direct eye contact with him as she pulled her tank top off. Peter averted his eyes. Even though it was game, he felt rude to just stare at a girls chest. He hoped everyone didn’t notice the blush spreading on his face.

“Four!” 

“Five!” Another shirt.

“Six!” Another drink.

“Seven!” Peter yelled, figuring he had to say a number at one point. He waited to hear another number but it didn’t come. 

That’s when he became aware of all the eyes on him. Seven. _Seven._ That was an odd number. They were waiting for him to take his shirt off. But Peter couldn’t do that. 

“Awww… he’s shy” Grayson teased, walking over to his friend and tugging at the bottom on his shirt “trust me Pete,” he said quieter. “Everyone is too drunk to care if you have a six pack or not. You’re fine dude.” 

Grayson started to pull his shirt up but before he got to far, Peter pushed him away. Grayson looked at him, his face full of confusion. He was judging. He was wondering. He knew. Peter looked back at all the people, they were all watching him with amusement, they probably knew. Peter backed up, stumbling a little.

“I um, gotta go” he slurred “gettin’ late.” And then he ran. He ran out of the living room and through the hall, occasionally running into walls. It was like the whole world was tilting and moving. He could hear Grayson yelling his name behind him. He pushed open the front door and sighed in relief. The cold air was exactly what he needed. He could breath. He could breath. 

And then he missed the steps and was laying in the grass. He stayed there for a couple minutes, feeling too weird to move. Was this drunk? This wasn’t really fun. Not when there weren’t people around. This was sort of sad. He felt sad. He wanted more air. 

He stood back up and wobbled for a moment. It was cold out. He was very cold. He made his way over to Grayson’s trunk and got his backpack out. He sat on the curb and opened it. Phone, phone. He needed his phone. 

But then he saw his suit, nicely folded. With a heater, and it was calling him. He could swing through the city and get all the air he needed, and stay warm. There was absolutely nothing that could go wrong with that. 

 

“I’m just wondering if I should be concerned, Tony. These purchases are really out of character for you. What’s going on?” Pepper said. Tony sighed, he’d been on the phone with her for a while now, trying to avoid giving her direct answers.

“Nothing, Pepper. Can’t you take my word on that?”

“Because your word has been good since...when?” She retorted. Ouch. Fair, but ouch.

“Pep...alright, fine. Can you come over Sunday night? It’s easier to explain in person.” He said. He couldn’t keep everything a secret forever, and he could honestly use Peppers advice. He just hoped she didn’t freak out too much. He could hear Pepper take a relieved sigh on the other line. 

“Yes, yes Tony I can. How’s-“

“Sir, the ‘until college’ protocol has been activated.” FRIDAY interrupted. Tony blinked in confusion. 

“Uh, I’ll text you the details. Gotta go. End call” he ordered, getting out of his swivel chair. “Fri, that’s very funny.” He said.

“I am not joking, sir. The protocol has been activated.” She responded. Tony almost had a stroke. He had made that protocol as a “just in case”. That’s why he gave it such a dumb name, because there was no way it would be needed. There was no way Peter would ever be that dumb. 

“What are his alcohol levels?” He asked, already moving towards his armour.

“0.28 percent, Sir.” Oh he was dead. He was so, so dead. Once he was safe he was absolutely going to kill him. 

“Must have been one hell of a drink. Location Fri, let’s go.”

 

One moment Peter was swinging from roof to roof, and the next his feet seemed to be glued down. No matter what he did, they wouldn’t budge.

“Karen..” he slurred “why won’t they move.” 

“By order of Tony Stark, I am to keep you ‘exactly where you are’ until he arrives. “ She replied. 

“That doesn’t sound very good. I gotta, I gotta leave. He’s going to be very mad, Karen. I gotta go” Peter shut his eyes, things were really spinning. He wanted to sit down. 

He snapped his eyes back open when he heard the sound of Tony’s repulsors approaching. This was bad. This was _very_ bad. Tony came into sight and landed in front of him 

“Mr. Parker!” Tony sang. “Enjoying the view?” The older man stepped out of the armour, anger clouding his face.

“Um. Yes? The city lights looks like the golden rings from sonic.” He replied awkwardly. He wasn’t sure why he said that, he just felt like talking a lot, and smiling.

“Good! Savour it! Because you are never seeing anything but your room again. Friday, tell Karen to let him go. I got it from here” Mr. Stark ordered. Peter knew he was hearing what Tony was saying, but he just couldn’t process it. He had a feeling he shouldn’t be smiling.

“Is this funny to you, kid? Have a good night? Think this all just fine and dandy?” Tony’s voice was getting louder, he came closer to Peter, holding his finger out sternly. “What is it with you doing exactly what I tell you _not_ to do? 0.28 is the percentage of alcohol in your blood. Do you know the life threatening percent for someone your weight?”

Peter shook his head

“0.31.” Tony spat. Peter swallowed, he was trying to listen. He really was but everything was fuzzy and Mr. Stark looked sort of funny with his face all red. “Why am I even trying to have this conversation with you?” He threw his hands up and stood back, getting back into his suit. 

“Come here.” He said. Peter wobbled awkwardly over to him, not sure what was happening. He didn’t expect Tony to throw him over his shoulder and take off. Peter suppressed some vomit and shut his eyes. This was way too much right now. 

He was grateful when the whooshing and cold wind stopped, he heard Tony’s feet hit the surface of something with a clunk, and then he was in his room. His warm room with his bed. 

“I love Jesus.” Peter slurred, flopping onto his bed and stuffing his face into his pillow. He could sleep right now. 

“Yeah, well he’s not going to save you now. Up.” Tony ordered. Peter groaned and pulled himself from his warm bed, standing back on his feet.

“Never mind.” He said “god is dead.” Tony rolled his eyes in annoyance and opened Peters closet, he pulled out a loose shirt and threw it at him. 

“Suit, off, now. Binder too. I’ll turn around.” Mr. Stark turned his back, his arms crossed. Peter pressed the spider on his suit, loosening it. He stepped out of it awkwardly and carefully folded it up. He wiggle out of the binder and pulled the shirt on, sitting down on his bed in his boxers and sleep shirt. 

“‘M done.” He murmured. Tony whipped around and came over to him. 

“Phone?” He asked. Peter pointed to his backpack in confusion. Mr. Stark picked it up and went through it until he found the phone, he stuck it in his pocket. “Thanks, mine now.” Peter’s mouth dropped open.

“I, but, can I at least text Ned first to let him know? He’s my best friend, dude. The Luigi to my Mario.” He wasn’t really sure what he was saying at this point. 

“No, you can’t, dude. Ned will survive. Now hand over the suit.” Peters heart stopped for a second. Mr. Stark was kidding, right? 

“What- Tony c’mon. It was just a party and I’m fine-“

“This is not just about you!” Tony yelled. “Do you not understand you put other people at risk while you were galavanting around the city, drunk out of your mind? With your powers Pete, one mess up is all it takes. God, I thought you were smarter than that.” Peter hung his head. This wasn’t so funny anymore.

“Give me the suit. Now.” He ordered. Peter didn’t move. He couldn’t. He had messed up big. Tony seemed to run out of patience, he strode over to Peter and physically took it from his hands. As soon as it was gone, Peter felt a couple tears well in his eyes. Mr. Stark walked to the door, anger boiling off him.

“Tony, wait. Just wait, please wait. I need the suit, I gotta-“

“Goodnight, Peter.” He said in a monotone. “Lights, Friday” 

And then he was alone. 

 

Tony stormed down to his workshop with Peters suit. He hadn’t meant to lose it so much at him. But he couldn’t stand it, he couldn’t stand seeing Peter like that. And he couldn’t help but feel like it was his fault.

He set Peters suit down at a table and flopped down on the workshop couch, covering his face with his hand. Peter could have died. He could have shot a web that missed, fallen and died. He could have tried to stop a robbery, and he would have been sluggish and died. 

Tony honestly wasn’t sure what to do next. Yes, he had set rules for Peter but he never thought they’d actually be broken. He never thought it would get that far. He was fairly certain taking the phone was a big one though. Maybe he’d Pinterest it. 

He was trying to shake the intense feeling of guilt that was building in his chest but it just wouldn’t go. Peter was such a good kid, and a smart kid. Tony always told people that. And he had never had problems before, he had never even tried a drink. But now, after staying with Tony he had gotten completely wasted. Was it a coincidence? Probably. But maybe it wasn’t, maybe this was Tony’s fault. 

Maybe he was failing Peter Parker.


End file.
